Artemis Fowl: The Hired Guns
by Drakarn
Summary: Foaly's running an experiment with two mercenaries. But when a new drug as well as a resurgence of softnose lasers comes around things get serious. How will these two mercenaries fare against this new threat? I doubt even they know.
1. A Strange Meeting

The factory complex looked as dead as ever, the windows were broken and the lights off, grime was covering just about every surface from the outside, being the middle of the night didn't help the scene either. Holly Short was watching the building from a distance, shielded of course. She contacted Foaly, "Are you sure this is the right place?" She asked. "It seems dead; I doubt anyone would want to come here."

Foaly's voice buzzed in on her helmet, "This is where your contact said to meet him Holly, he said that he found something pretty big and we have to take his word on it, considering that we lost connection to his helmet before we could start recording. His last location was on the second floor office, he also said his partner was somewhere else but we lost connection to him before they even made it into the building."

Holly sighed, how was it that she kept getting stuck with these kinds of missions? She just hoped that whatever her two contacts found in the factory was worth her time, otherwise nasty things would start happening. She turned her wings on, they were as silent as ever, she jumped from the ledge she was sitting on, taking a look around her, the area was dead, and the factory was located in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by a few cliffs and a desert, the nearest town was twenty miles away. Her wings caught a slight breeze that was flowing in her direction and she took off, heading for the location designated on her H.U.D. She breathed in the air for a moment, she may not have liked going on a job like this but it was a welcome break from the events involving Artemis and his antics. As she approached her location she thought she saw some movement in the factory but assumed it was a trick of the light, still she drew her Neutrino 3000 just to be safe.

She landed on a small ledge on the outside of the room she was supposed to link up with her contact, luckily this one had also been broken. She gently flew up from her position, silently infiltrating the room while her shield was up, she wasn't visible to the naked eye which was lucky for her because she saw someone on the ground at the opposite wall, head under a window looking down on the rest of the factory. The person was wearing black clothing which messed with her vision since the entire room was black. She started making her way around a table in the room and almost made it around the person on the ground when she felt a hand on her shoulder, a human hand. Startled she turned, pointing her gun at the mudman as his hand left her shoulder. He looked up at her, his face finally showing, it was covered by a hat only moments ago she now realized, and she almost yelped in surprise when she saw a skull looking back at her, she felt him grab her Neutrino 3000 and yank it from her grip, clasping a hand over her mouth before any noise was heard, "Relax…" he said, calmly, his voice was smooth and clear, "I'm with you."

Holly relaxed herself a bit, but still remained skeptical, as he took his hand off her mouth she inquired, "And how exactly am I supposed to trust you?"

The mudman sighed, looking a holly for a second. She soon realized that it wasn't a skull, I was a mask. The mudman began speaking in the people's language, "I was sent here by Foaly to check up on some suspicious activity that had been going on for a few days. I lost contact with him, much like you probably have by now, soon after I entered here. Now, do you have any more pointless questions or are we going to continue with this assignment?"

Holly blinked in surprise under her helmet, how did this human know the language? She thought only Artemis and Butler were the only two humans who could speak in that tongue. She then realized that she couldn't contact Foaly, much like the human said, all that would come up was static. "Okay, I trust you mudman, but not by much. Now then, would you like to explain to me the situation before I decide to leave you here to deal with your problems all alone?"

The figure nodded, standing up, Holly noted that he was fairly tall, about 6'2", he was also wearing a black trench coat and suit, which she thought was strange attire since they were both on a field mission. On his back was what looked like two grey short sticks and at his sides were two pistols, still in their holsters. The man nodded his head back to the window he had previously been under, "Why don't you see for yourself."

She unshielded herself, looking through the window and down to the factory's bottom floor, her eyes widened with surprise. At least twelve goblins were surrounding a group of crates as they were being carried to a certain location by a couple of demons. "Do you know what's in the crates?" She asked the man in the skull mask.

"Batteries," he responded, "I hope you recall what happened last time goblins got a hold of human batteries."

"How do you…" she was about to ask how he knew about that situation that happened a few years back when he raised his hand, interrupting her.

"I've read the files on what's happened for the past few years, the situations involving a certain Artemis Fowl were particularly interesting but that's for another time."

Holly sighed with frustration, "Okay, so who are you exactly skull mask?"

"You can call me Reaper, I'm a mercenary hired by Foaly for a form of experiment that he's decided to run through. My partner, Wraith, is just across the platform in the other office."

"How do you know that exactly?"

"He signaled me using a mirror and the moons light maybe an hour ago. I assume he hasn't moved much until then otherwise he would have regrouped with me. Now, do I have to answer any more pointless questions or can we deal with the situation at hand?"

"Fine," Holly said, getting aggravated with this human's manners, "What exactly do we do now?"

"Well," Reaper started, "first we try to link up with Wraith, we make our escape and I deliver these pictures to Foaly and I get going with my next assignment and you never see me again."

"I can't wait…" Holly sighed, and she truly meant that, she'd have a talk with Foaly about this "experiment" of his when all of this was over with.

She put her shield back on and was about to fly across the platform when Reaper stopped her again, "Hold it," he said. "Take a look at the corner section there."

Holly looked at where he was indicating, a rotating camera was sitting there, its red light flickering every now and again. "So?" She asked, obviously irritated, "It's just a camera." She then realized, if goblins and demons were involved then the camera could most likely see through her shield.

Reaper, obviously seeing this realization on her face, pointed out, "The camera can see you, as you may have realized, but I'm assuming the goblins can't, now I've been watching the camera rotate, it goes around 30 second intervals for each turn, meaning once you can sneak by it you don't have much time, I would go but I can be seen even without the shield so that means only you can link up with Wraith. Do you understand?"

Holly nodded, watching the camera closely, she waited for a few turns of its lens, once she was just out of sight from it she flew across the platform quickly and quietly, making it to the camera's blind spot. She sighed with relief, thankful nothing saw her, when she heard a bit of a scuffle going down below, from his point she could see two goblins going at it, she didn't know what it was about, she assumed it had something to do with one of their mothers, she was just about to go across to the other office when one of the goblins got so mad he threw a fireball at his companion. This shot missed horribly and went straight for holly, she jumped out of the way just in time before she was cooked like a roast turkey, but when she did this she looked up in horror as he camera was pointed directly at her.


	2. Even Stranger Allies

The factory complex was alive with actions all in an instant, the goblins and demons on the lower level were scurrying around trying to find the intruder while the alarm was blaring and various patrols on the top floor were screaming as well. Holly Short looked around, trying to find some way of escape when she felt herself being lifted up and carried across the platform. She looked up to see Reaper's mask almost gleaming in the moonlight. He slid with her into the other office where Wraith should have been. Holly felt herself being put down as Reaper looked around the room, she heard him swear under his breath when he didn't see anyone. It was then that Holly noticed a letter on the table, Reaper must have seen it as well because he was heading straight for it. He picked it up and began reading over it, tossing it aside and saying, "If I find him I'll make him hurt for this."

Holly raised an eyebrow at this recent agitation of her contact, "What?" She asked, "Did he scurry off without you?"

She noticed that Reaper's head picked up before he could make a comeback, "Footsteps," he said, drawing his pistols, "and they're headed this way."

Holly stepped back for a moment, "You're not planning on killing them are you?"  
"Of course not," Reaper chuckled, "Foaly has us on a strictly non-lethal standard. We're forced to use rubber bullets. Now then, we need to find my colleague and get out of here fast, I'm not sure whether or not the goblins will bother to show us mercy. The letter said he went deeper into the factory, so it's gonna be difficult." As he said this Holly saw a goblin light a fireball and get ready to throw it, Reaper quickly turned, firing a shot and hitting it directly in the forehead and knocking it out cold, "We should move now, before the demons start showing up."

Holly nodded, turning on her wings and flying with Reaper as he ran out of the office. "How will we find your friend?" She inquired, "It's pretty hard to tell where he is with that vague letter."

Reaper shot another round at a goblin in front of them, that one too fell down unconcious. "Just listen for the sound of automatic weaponry, that should lead us to him." Shortly after he said this they both heard gunshots coming from the direction they were headed in, "See," he said, a bit of cockiness to his voice.

Holly heard a goblin start lighting up a fireball and she turned to fire a shot from her Neutrino 3000 at it. The goblin was hit squarely in the chest and flew back about a foot, landing on the ground with a hard thud. She felt herself being stopped and was about to ask why until she was interrupted by a fireball landing right in front of them, three of the goblins from the ground level had seen them and started hurling fireballs at them. Reaper shot one of them from the ground level as he started running again, Holly following close behind. Two more fireballs landed just behind them as Holly shot the other two, knocking them out. As the the two reached the end of the platform they heard gunshots coming from a hallway to their left, as they rounded it a demon was standing at the ready, Holly watched as it swung a pipe at Reaper. She assumed the mudman was done for and got ready to blast him when Reaper ducked the swing, flipping his pistols around in his hands. The demon swung again but Reaper sidestepped, smacking the demon in the head with the butt of one of his pistols. Holly watched as the demon stepped back, staggered, and saw Reaper hit it across the jaw with the other pistol, ad doing it a third time as the demon rolled back on its heels. The demon fell to the ground with a crash and lay still, its chest moving up and down, it was still alive, good. Reaper turned, waving her on, "C'mon, I assume his buddies will be after us in a few seconds if we don't hurry."

Holly nodded, turning around to dispatch a goblin who was getting too close. The sounds of the gunshots from down the hall grew louder as they continued. Holly took out a goblin that was getting ready to attack while reaper tossed another one over his shoulder before it could throw it's fireball. They reached a door that was shut, it looked like it lead to the stairwell. Reaper kicked it open, hitting a goblin on the other side and sending it flying foward. "Moon!" Holly heard reaper shout.

Soon after she heard, "Night!" Come from the other side of the door, Reaper jumped in, shooting a goblin at the bottom of the stairs. Holly looked up, seeing a very large man with what looked like an M-16. He was wearing a white hoody and mask. His gun was going off as he was shooting up the stairs, a couple of goblins were unconcious around the area as well as a demon. She saw the second human look down on both of them, "Took your dear sweet time didn't you?" He said, his voice was rough and gritty.

"Well how were we supposed to know you were here?" Reaper responded, quickly heading up the stairs while Holly followed him.

"I thought I signaled you a few minutes before I decided to move."

"Unfortunately I was interrupted by this one here," Reaper said as Holly noticed him nodding his head towards her.

"Is she the one who set off the alarm?" Wraith asked, looking directly at Holly now.

"I'd like to see you do better given the situation," Holly said with a huff, she noted his mask was similar to Reaper's, but it was just two slits for the eyes instead of a skull. This mudman was particularly large as well, not quite as big as Butler was but he was nothing to laugh at.

"I did do better," Wraith stated, "And without a shield to hide me from view as well."

Holly's eye twitched a bit, getting ready to say some very nasty things when she and the rest of the group heard the downstairs doors opening.

"Alright, the time to acquaint ourselves is over, let's get to the roof now, before we're toasted like marshmellows over an open fire, please?"

Wraith nodded, turning around while walking up the stairs, gun pointed at the ready the entire time. Holly and Reaper wne straight up for the roof, Holly heard Wraith's gun fire a few rounds as Reaper opened the door leading to the outside. The sun was just rising over the cliffs and started shedding some light around the barren area. She heard the door shut as Wraith came out as well, picking up a particularly heavy looking rock and putting it in front of the door, keeping it shut. Holly looked around the roof, rocks like that were everywhere, this area had gone by with poor maintenance for a long while. She saw both Reaper and Wraith point their guns at a second door on the other side of the roof as goblins and some demons began coming out of it. Both of them opened fire, their aim very precise, knocking out the goblins as they came by. Reaper shot one of the demons but Holly saw that it only aggravated it even more. "Watch our backs!" Reaper shouted as she heard the door behind them being pounded on.

Holly nodded, turning her gun to face the door as she saw Reaper run out of ammo and pull the two shortsticks from his back, hitting the demon that was approaching several times, then seeing it fall to the ground. A few moments later Holly saw a demon's hand break open the door that had been blocked, she set her Neutrino to the highest setting as the demon's head appeared from across the door's frame. She shot it in the head, squarely between the eyes, and it fell down, out like a light. She shouted at the two mercenaries, "Do you have a plan of some sort or are we going to have to fight our way through all of them! I personally don't care for the later."

"Working on it!" Wraith shouted back, she turned her head for a moment, seeing Wraith pull out a gun with a grappling hook on the end of it as he ran out of ammo, Reaper was busy beating the heads of a demon and goblin like drums, the he pulled out a similar looking gun, both of them shot at one of the ledges near the roof, Reaper fighting off the demon who was still concious.

"I suggest you start flying now elf," Reaper said, looking at holly. As he said this a fireball came at him directly but before it made contact with him he was in the air, being pulled by the grappling hook he had fired. Holly activated her wings, there was no need to tell her twice. She flew up to where the two mercenaries were headed, landing there and not a moment had passed until both of the humans were there as well.

"Good shooting fairy," Reaper nodded at her and she smiled. "Of course it was kind of your fault that we got stuck in that mess." Holly felt her smile dissapear after that comment, suddenly there was a buzzing in her ear.

"Foaly?" She heard Wraith inquire, Holly gave a sigh of relief when she heard the centaur's voice on her helmet as well. "Yes, Wraith, it's me. What happened in there? I take my eyes off you for two seconds and you dissapear! Is Holly with you?"

"If you mean the elf that came to help us then yes. I'm fine too if you were wondering that, though it's doubtful." Reaper responded sarcastically.

"I was wondering if you were alright Reaper," Foaly chimed in, "If you ended up dead then I wouldn't have to pay you anymore."

Holly interrupted their banter before it went any further, "Foaly, just what is going on here? I thought the only humans that knew of our existence were Artemis and his colleagues. Why are these two here?"

"I'll get to that later Holly, right now you need to get back here. I want to know what's going on."

"I'm sending you the footage me and Wraith have gotten now Foaly, you can go over it while we make the trip back." Reaper stated, walking foward and Wraith following close behind.

"Fine," Foaly sighed, "Bring Holly with you, I think she's a bit upset over this information."

"Alright, I'll do my best and get ready to pay us once we get there." Reaper cut the line, continuing foward, "Come on Holly, you're riding with us."

"And why would I do that?" Holly asked, not wanting to spend any more time with these two humans.

"Because we're the only ones here who know where the place we're meeting Foaly is." Wraith stated, turning to look at holly. "Our car is a short walk from here."

"Fine," Holly sighed, the sooner this was over with the better. She followed the two for a while until they got to a large piling of rocks. The two mercenaries went behind the rocks and shortly after Holly heard an engine starting, a fairly powerful one at that. She flew over the grouping and saw a black car sitting there, it's engine rumbling away. She saw Wraith open the back door for her and she decided that she might as well go in. Once the door was closed behind her she asked, "What kind of car is this exactly?"

Reaper chuckled, he was sitting in the driver's seat, "A 1968 Chevrolet Camaro, welcome to an American classic miss." She barely had time to respond before Reaper slammed his foot on the gas and take off with amazing speed.

She sat back in her chair, Wraith turned around, "You may want to buckle up." He said, chuckling, "This one here isn't exactly the safest driver."

Reaper laughed almost maniacally as she did just as Wraith said, "Just a little longer." She said to herself, "Then you'll be free of these two lunatics." She kept saying that to herself but for some reason her gut said otherwise as they reached a road and started driving down it.


	3. Familiar Faces

The sun was in the middle of the sky by the time the three had made it to their destination, the drive had taken several hours; the group had gone from a desert to a dense forest, taking some back road. The car was taking an almost naturally formed road, bumping constantly while some classic rock was playing. Reaper sighed, "Alright, we're almost there." He looked at Holly from the rear view mirror for a second; the fairy was wide-awake at this point, unlike an hour ago when she was fast asleep. His eyes went immediately back to the road, "Foaly sends us to this location specifically for how little it's used. Not many fairies go through even in its peak seasons, making it perfect for us to meet with Foaly and the others who are participating in this experiment."

"And what exactly is this experiment?" Holly asked, bouncing around a bit while the car continued to hit bumps on the road.

Reaper nodded at Wraith who turned around, "We're being used as a test run, Foaly wants to see how well humans work in covert missions such as the one we went on last night. He wanted to see how well we could work under different circumstances and see how we think under pressure."

"But what about Artemis and Butler?" She inquired again, "They work with us regularly, why didn't Foaly use them in this experiment?"

This time it was Reaper's turn to explain, he looked up in the mirror again for another split second, "Artemis and Butler are different, both are especially gifted at what they do, consider them special cases. He wanted to see how different people worked out. That's what I assume anyways. Fowl also has a family at home to deal with; he has certain responsibilities keeping him from coming to your aid on an everyday basis. Am I correct?" He saw Holly nod and continued, "We are specifically hired to help the people with their problems, like a goblin who goes to the surface and starts blabbing to humans. We're sent in to knock 'em both out and drag them both to the LEP, or any other official that we're designated to bring them to. After that Foaly does a quick mind wipe of the humans involved and the perpetrator goes to prison, then we get paid and go on our next mission."

"Of course we've done that multiple times," Wraith added. "That's usually the normal mission we have to go on. But every now and again goblins or certain other fairies start making deals with us surface dwellers, then we're sent in to check out what's going on if LEP forces can't be mustered up fast enough. After that we give Foaly the video feed or pictures or whatever he needs at the time, then he or one of his associates instructs us on what to do next."

"So this is a normal job for you?" Holly asked, truly curious now.

"Well, it should have been, this time the situation's a bit more delicate." Wraith replied. "You see the goblins actually had a **good** security system set up. That doesn't normally happen, they were also difficult to find. Normally, as you probably could have guessed, goblins are completely obvious when they work above ground. We usually find them in maybe two days at most, this took us two weeks to find, and the most disturbing part is that they actually got demons to work with them, usually demons are too proud to associate themselves with goblins, and goblins are… goblins. Seeing a set up like that, however, makes things much more complicated."

"They could have been influenced by the mesmer." Holy stated.

"True," Reaper said, still listening to their conversation. "That's what we assume happened to them but we'd have to let Foaly inspect the video feed we gave him, which is what I hope he did while we were driving here and not doing whatever he does when he has free time."

The car slowed to a stop in front of a pile of dead trees and leaves, "Ah, here we are." Reaper announced, opening the car door. As he shut it behind him he pressed a small button on the side of his mask, "Foaly," he began, "we're here. Are you inside?"

"Yeah," he heard Foaly sigh, "I was wondering when you'd get here. I have to say, you're getting slower Reaper."

"And you're getting more irritable." Reaper retorted a little irritated from the long drive, "Just open the door so we can come in." A few moments later he heard a door sliding, he turned to face Holly and Wraith, "Alright, come on and get this over with."

He turned around Heading into the almost abandoned shuttle station. He looked around; obviously no one had come around to clean it in a long time. Dust was on the floor and just about every other surface, tables were overturned with cobwebs forming on them, certain viewing screens were completely busted, and the lights were flickering on and off constantly. Reaper sighed, he disliked coming here since the location was so dingy but realized why they couldn't meet anywhere else. It was a necessary inconvenience so he didn't complain about it often. To his left was Foaly, looking a little more than agitated. Reaper proceeded towards the centaur, "Did you go over the video feed Foaly?" He asked, brushing off a bit of the wall and leaning on it. He saw Wraith and Holly not too far behind when he did so. Reaper pulled out a cigarette, lighting it with a match he had in his pocket and putting it in a slit he had in his mask specifically designed for that purpose.

Foaly nodded at him, turning on the viewing screen that was behind him. Reaper's attention was drawn to it as well as Wraith's and Holly's. "Now then," Foaly played the video, fast-forwarding to a point where a goblin was looking up at Reaper. "Tell me what's wrong with this goblin."

Reaper shifted his gaze immediately to the goblin's eyes as Foaly did a close up of the goblin, there were no jagged edges to the pupils, this goblin wasn't mesmerized, and if he was it wasn't heavily. Reaper then started looking around for any abnormalities about the goblin but found none, eventually responding with, "Nothing that I can see."

Reaper heard Foaly clapping his hands together, "Excellent, we've established that you can see. There's currently nothing wrong with this goblin, we suspect that he has never been mesmerized. Meaning that he's actually working with demons according to his own free will. It's the same situation with any demon that walks by the screen. None of them have been mesmerized, and the strange part is, they haven't killed each other! Now there's a funny scuffle that happens every now and again but it's soon forgotten and they immediately get back to work."

"What about the batteries?" Holly asked. Reaper saw that Foaly had just noticed her in the room, he was apparently too busy talking about the goblins to notice she was there.

"Holly! He shouted, almost embracing her," it's good to see you're alive and well, no thanks to these two no doubt.

"Reprimand them later Foaly, what about the batteries?" Holly asked again.

"Right," Foaly said, composing himself enough to answer, "Well the batteries are a bit of a mystery, we destroyed every softnose laser that was used against the LEP during the goblin uprising so we don't know what's going on."

"Could it be possible that they're building softnose lasers?" Wraith inquired.

"Not likely," Foaly replied, "The blueprints were destroyed along with almost every softnose that was available. I doubt the goblins could reverse engineer a spear, much less any form of modern weapon."

"What about the demons?" Wraith asked, Foaly merely scoffed at this.

"Demons don't have the understanding of our technology, some of them are still using basic weapons like clubs. If one of them managed to create a softnose laser then something is definitely wrong."

Reaper blew out a puff of smoke, removing the cigarette from his mouth, "So we're expecting a third party? Someone on the outside of both groups?"

Reaper pulled out his pistols when he heard a voice come from above them, "That's what we expect but we're not entirely sure. Which is what we need you two for again."

Reaper looked up, guns aiming at the source of the noise. He quickly lowered them when he saw who it was, "Ah, Commander Kelp, good of you to join us. To what do we owe your presence today?"

Reaper noticed Wraith lowering his weapons as Trouble Kelp dropped his shield, landing on the ground, "I'm here to give you your next mission, it's a follow up to this one."

Reaper sighed, "Come on Kelp, we just got back."

"Unfortunately this is non-negotiable Reaper, these recent developments are disturbing and I want this resolved as soon as possible. Also, if you try to decline this mission then you're not going to get paid for the last one you went on."

Reaper tossed his cigarette in a nearby garbage can, "Alright you beat me, give us the details."

"You're going back to the factory," Reaper and Wraith interrupted him with a simultaneous groan but he ignored them and continued. "This time I want you to capture one of the demons or goblins, preferably one of each race but at this point we'll take whatever we can get."

"Alright," Reaper said, sighing, "On one condition, we go back to our base of operations to stock up on supplies. We used up a lot of ammo last time and we're not prepared to actually take a prisoner from a heavily fortified area."

Kelp nodded, "Alright, but there's another detail to this mission."

Reaper heard Holly sigh behind him, "Why do I feel like I won't like it?" She asked.

"You'll be taking Holly with you on this mission. You could use the extra assistance and I want someone there to watch the two of you."

All three of them yelled, almost as if rehearsed, "What!" Neither of them liked the idea of working together again.

Reaper walked up to Kelp, talking to him after he regained his composure, "She's the reason we barely made it out last time, and you want her to come with us again?"

Commander Kelp raised his hand, stopping Reaper, " She has a different mission than you two. She'll be looking for the jamming device that was used on you before you entered the building. I want to see what caused so much havoc in your mission."

"Do I have a say in this?" Holly almost shouted, Reaper noted that she was particularly adamant about not working with them again.

"Unfortunately, no you don't, the council agreed that you will follow them for this mission, they're still suspicious with the mudmen, and with good reason. They're mercenaries, soldiers who go for the highest bidder, even I don't trust them."

"Yet they're right here…standing right in front of you, just food for thought." Reaper said, a little agitated while he was listening to the two talk to each other.

"You can get over it, we pay you all the same and maybe you'll earn our trust if you keep having successful missions." Kelp said, Reaper noticed he was still looking at Holly.

Reaper turned to leave, walking out the door, followed by Wraith, the two got into the car waiting for Holly but it was several minutes before she left the building. As she got in the car the door to the base shut, "What took you so long?" Reaper asked, seeing Holly buckle up in the back seat.

"I had some questions that needed answered." She replied, sitting back in the seat.

"About what exactly?"

"Things like how you're able to see us while we're shielded."

"Ah, so mostly around our masks?" Reaper heard Wraith ask as he started driving down the forest road again.

"Yes, Foaly explained about how your masks worked almost exactly like our LEP helmets."

"Oh that's only part of what the masks can do," Wraith said smugly.

"And what else can they do?" Holly asked, leaning forward in her seat.

"Oh they work like your LEP helmets yes, but they're also bullet proof along with…" Wraith would have continued but Reaper stopped him by turning his mask to face Wraith, Reaper knew that Wraith couldn't see his face under the mask but everyone in the car felt the glare under Reaper's mask. "You'll see later on if the situation comes up," Wraith said, looking down at the ground.

A few moments of awkward silence passed before Reaper heard Holly ask, "Where exactly are we going?"

"We're going to New York City, the very edge of it." Reaper saw Holly sigh, understanding her feelings. He didn't want to be stuck in this car with her as much as she didn't want to be with both of them. He set his entire focus on the road, getting ready for a long drive home. 


	4. Base of Operations

Nerves were thin in their group since the drive had taken a very long time; they even had to make a stop for the night at a cheap hotel. It had gotten so bad that everyone almost cheered when they saw the sign saying that they had made it to New York City. Reaper sighed with relief, two days in a car is frustrating enough, spending two days with a person that gets on your last nerve in an hour was simply unbearable. He could tell Holly felt the same way, some form of conversation almost came up but most of the ride was spent in awkward silence. After a few more minutes of hopeful waiting reaper stopped at a small warehouse at the edge of the ocean just on the edge of the city itself.

Reaper opened his door, stretching his legs as he heard Wraith and Holly do the same. "Alright, Miss Short, since you haven't been here before I expect you to not touch **anything** until told otherwise, unless you want to end up a pile of cinders on the ground." Reaper said, his tone absolutely serious, he wasn't joking either, Reaper and Wraith both had a security system installed that could almost completely obliterate anyone that so much as walked into the warehouse. Wanting to be very thorough in the fact that their base was kept secure.

Reaper turned his head back to the front door as Holly nodded, almost dumbfounded. Both Reaper and Wraith pulled out a card, putting them in a verification device put on both sides of the door and swiping them at the same time. Reaper watched as the door slid open, walking inside with Wraith at his side. He saw Holly try to follow but he stopped her, holding his hand up but not saying a word. Reaper then nodded to Wraith, and they both said simultaneously, "Voice code verification."

Reaper heard the familiar voice that came by, a pre-made electronic voice, "Please submit the pass-code."

Reaper started off, "Darkness is falling." He said, keeping his tone level and even.

Wraith continued, "Moon is rising." Keeping his voice at the same tone as Reaper's.

Then they both said at the same time, "The time to strike is now."

Reaper waited a second, and then the lights came on while the electronic voice said, "Please conclude the deactivation of the security measures by placing your thumb on the scanning pad." Reaper breathed out a sigh of relief. Walking forward with his partner he removed a glove that was on his hand, Wraith doing the same. They placed their thumb on a scanning pad, a green light went over his thumb and the voice said one final time, "Security emplacements have been disabled, welcome back sirs."

"Good to be back Alpha." Reaper said, walking forward, he turned to face Holly before he forgot, "It's safe to come inside now, but I still suggest you not touch anything. Some of this equipment is very delicate."

He saw Holly walk into the room, looking around awestruck. Reaper chuckled but he couldn't blame her. Around every wall were weapons, grenades, espionage equipment, radios, grappling hooks, and other weapons of all kinds. In the crates surrounding the area was ammo, lots of it. Some of them were marked, "Non Lethal" others "Lethal" and a few were labeled "Tranquilizers", it was truly an impressive collection. Holly asked, "How did you get all of this?"

Reaper had almost been waiting for this question, responding with, "We've been working as mercenaries for quite a while, three years specifically. While we were working by ourselves we acquired quite a bit of money, Wraith spent most of his on things that bring him joy." Reaper nodded back at Wraith, who was holding a Minigun while giggling like a small child. "I, however, keep our funding spread out across a series of safes across the country. The majority of it lies here, however. Trust me, that's a lot and I'm not willing to tell you the details just yet."

"What about the security system?" Holly asked Reaper as he walked towards a series of sniper rifles lined across a large wall.

"Well, we've been working for the LEP for around three months, during that time we get paid a pretty penny." He picked up a few clips of tranquilizer darts from a nearby crate as well as a large amount of rubber bullets. "I decided to indulge myself, bought a few shiny things, a nice security system, the works. Now this place is more fortified then almost anywhere else. Even the guns here have a constant DNA scanner on them, if anyone decides to just touch one of them then they wake up five hours later with a headache that could kill a bear."

"Why do you need such heavy precautions?" Holly asked, Reaper could tell there was a little bit of worry in her voice.

"Mainly because of paranoia, if someone manages to get their hands on a large sum of these weapons then there could be a pretty serious situation on our hands. I'd tell Wraith to stop buying the weapons but…" They both looked back at reaper, this time he had a rocket launcher, clapping excitedly, "They just bring him so much joy."

Reaper started picking up smoke grenades, placing them in a series of loops on his belt, he could tell Holly wanted to ask something else, "What's on your mind?"

"Why exactly do you two wear such strange clothing for your missions? They don't seem very protective."

Reaper chuckled under his mask, "I'd almost expect you to ask Foaly that question."

"It didn't exactly come to mind while he was going on about the dangers of working with you two."

"Right, that seems like something he'd do. Well, we work in this clothing mainly because it's also been tweaked. Not by Foaly this time before you ask, we customized them ourselves before Foaly even met us. Me and my partner…" they looked back again, this time wraith was putting a couple of M-16s on his back, "We both spent a bit of money making our clothes bullet proof, fire retardant, things like that. Not very cheap but well worth the profit."

"Okay, so why do you wear the masks, and why don't you talk about them?"

"Well, we wear the masks because that creates an intimidation factor, you saw how the manager of the hotel reacted when we walked in there. If we had brought our weapons then we would have had a scary situation on our hands. But that reaction is what we look for when people see us, if they're too scared to act then that gives us more time to counteract. We don't talk about our masks because they're not just a source of our identification but they hold a lot of secrets in their design. We can't talk about them because people will start taking the design for themselves and use them against us. We can't just talk about them to anyone."

Reaper clapped his hand at Wraith who was starting to pick up some C-4 charges used to blow open doors, "Don't you think you're going a bit overboard?"

Reaper heard Wraith laugh heartily under his mask, "You're never going overboard when you have guns! You'll learn that lesson someday when you get older."

Reaper sighed, putting a clip of tranquilizer darts into his sniper, "Well, Wraith, I suppose we all want to be just like you when we grow up, but hopefully I'll be killed before then, at least after that I'll be free of your constant talking."

"I don't talk that much do I?"

"Constantly, it's a big effort to keep you quiet. I'm almost surprised you kept your own name secret for this long. Not for lack of trying of course."

Reaper heard Holly laughing a bit; sighing he put a harness on his back, sliding the rifle in a holster on it, "You might want to wipe that smile off your face. We're going to be spending another two days on the road, and this time there's no stops." He saw the smile on her face disappear almost instantly. "Bah it won't be so bad, think of it like this, you'll probably see us die if we screw up." He almost saw a smile appear on Holly's face, "You'll probably want to get out of here as well, we need to reset the security settings on the base here and you don't want to be in here when they come back online." He saw Holly's eyes widen as she turned around and started walking quickly to the door. "Alpha," Reaper started, "reactivate all defense protocols, no one but me and wraith come in or out until told otherwise."

The electronic voice came on again, "Very well sir, don't let the door hit you on the way out."

Reaper signaled for Wraith to follow and they both headed to the car, "How do you think this is going to turn out?" Wraith asked him.

"Probably as it always turns out Wraith, us shooting out way out of a dangerous situation, and taking the majority of the blame for it. Same old same old."


	5. The Delivery Man

Dusk was just setting on the factory once again; as the sun's light was cast upon the building it deceived those who would pass by it as an empty forgotten relic. To the three that had inside it before it was a source of dread, they knew that they'd have to go back inside and take care of all the contraband and criminals, the latter of which would kill them on sight if they were caught. Reaper was smoking a cigarette from the slit in his mask, taking it out every now and again to send out some smoke. He was staring down the sights of his silenced sniper rifle, surveying the area from a slope close to the northern end of the factory but just out of sight of any patrols that would come by. "Alright," he started, "It looks like there are two goblin guards on the front door, both armed with softnose lasers I'm afraid. Every five minutes or so a demon who is patrolling the outer perimeter will walk by, meaning security's a little tighter this time."

"Alright, so what's the plan?" Wraith asked, shouldering an M-16.

"The plan is to get in, help Holly get the jamming device, capture a goblin, and maybe steal a softnose laser for Foaly. Then we get the hell out of there." Reaper turned off the safety on his sniper, a clip of tranquilizer darts already loaded.

"So when do we move?" Holly asked, setting her Neutrino 3000 to high, "I don't think they'll want to be kept waiting."

"Let me knock out these two goblins," Reaper replied, putting his finger on the trigger, "I'm going to wait for this demon to walk just out of hearing distance, once I take them out, then we take out the demon on patrol. We'll head in once we're sure he's not going to be any trouble to us."

He noticed the demon walking by, he was slightly larger than average for a demon, but there was something strange about the way it moved, for some reason it looked slightly more aggressive than was normal for a demon. That was strange because usually demons are aggressive to begin with. No matter, it was almost to the other side of the building, out of sight from the goblins. He pulled the trigger two times, the rifle giving a coughing sound for each shot, a few seconds passed and the goblins fell to the ground, sleeping like babies. Reaper turned his rifle's safety back on, nodding to his two companions, "Alright, no screw ups, in and out."

Wraith nodded, "I understand, let's just hope she doesn't set off another alarm." Tilting his head towards Holly, she quickly responded with a cold glare.

"Make fun of each other when this is over," Reaper said as he jogged forward, "right now we have a job to do." He grabbed a rope that had been tied to a nearby rock a while ago, rappelling down it, followed by Wraith shortly after while Holly flew down to ground level, shielded. Once down at the bottom they quickly made their way to where the goblins were lying and sure enough the two guards were out cold. Reaper removed the darts from their sleeping bodies, placing them in his pocket. He also picked up one of the softnose lasers, putting it on a pack he had on his back and zipping it up. He nodded at Wraith, pointing to the side of the building where he thought the demon would be rounding soon, Wraith nodded, pressing himself against the wall and sliding across it until he made it to the corner. Reaper and Holly quickly went to work cuffing the goblins with vacuum cuffs to prevent them from using their fire abilities. While they were doing so Reaper heard a loud smack and dull thud as he assumed that Wraith had taken care of the demon.

Shortly after he saw Wraith walk up next to him, nodding as he brushed off the butt of his M-16. Reaper walked up to the door, trying to turn the knob slowly. He discovered the door was locked from the inside, turning to look at Wraith who pulled out a charge of C-4 and cocking his head to the side hopefully. Reaper shook his head, pulling out a lock pick and watched as Wraith hung his head dejectedly. Reaper started fiddling with the lock, having little trouble. He stepped back when he heard a click as door unlocked. He pointed to Holly and pointed to the door, silently instructing her to pen it and look inside. She nodded and quietly opened the door, peering inside. Reaper saw her turn and give the "All clear" signal and proceeded inside, Reaper doing the same as he was followed by Wraith.

The inside of the factory looked almost completely different from the last time they were in there. An assembly line of goblins stood in the middle of the factory, working on what looked like softnose lasers. The group was out of sight from where they were standing but the situation looked dire. Goblins? Actually building softnose lasers? Functioning softnose lasers? This didn't seem possible to anyone, how did the goblins actually muster up the intelligence to do something like this? Reaper shook his head, pressing a button on the side of his mask and making a quick recording. This was important information but it wasn't their top priority right now.

The group went into an unoccupied room that provided good cover from the view of the goblins and demons patrolling the inside. Reaper used his finger to draw a rough map of the area in a pile of dirt that was lying in the corner. He marked a room with an x saying, "This is where we are currently, now we don't know where the jamming device is but it's safe to assume it's not on the roof or second floor, considering the fact that me and Wraith checked that area thoroughly on our first visit. Before you arrived of course." He looked up at Holly who gave him a look that basically said, "Shut up and keep going." Reaper did just that, "We need to get out of here as fast as possible, Foaly needs to see what the goblins have come up with, so we're going to split up and cover more ground." He marked the top right section, "Holly, you cover this area, be careful of any cameras that may be around." He then marked the top left section of the map, pointing to Wraith, "You'll be covering this section, be sure to stay out of sight Wraith, and only fire if you absolutely **need** too. Understood?" Wraith nodded sadly as he switched his gun's safety back on. "I'll be taking the bottom section of the map, once you're done checking all of the possible rooms meet back here. If you find the jamming device do your best to get it but if it's too heavily guarded then come back and share with us your findings and we'll come up with a strategy." The other two nodded, silently leaving the room through the other entrances around the area.

Reaper stood up, dusting off his trench coat, and walked to the door at the rear of the room. He cracked the door only slightly, seeing two goblins walking around the area while toting softnose lasers. Silently Reaper slipped out of the room, grabbing the two goblins by their heads and banging them together, knocking them both out. He picked up the two lasers on the ground and slid them into the room he just left. He stayed close to the wall and slid along it, his black clothing giving him some camouflage. Opening the door to every room he came by just a crack and peering inside. The first one had nothing in it, just some books. He continued on, in the second room he came by there were two goblins drinking some substance that Reaper could tell was disgusting, he left that room alone and didn't bother questioning what was going on. When he got to the third room he saw a goblin sitting on a desk staring at an area next to the door Reaper was at, there was nothing in there that Reaper could see but before he could close the door a voice caught his attention, a Russian's voice.

Reaper stopped for a moment, listening in on the conversation the Russian didn't sound all too happy, saying, "I've gotten you the batteries, and the supplies needed to build your weapons **and** the drug. I'm expecting my payment now."

The goblin was trembling a bit, the Russian must have been fairly intimidating, "B-but we don't have your payment now, and t-the master wants you to get more supplies for the drug."

"That is unfortunate…" He heard the Russian start again, and the familiar sound of a gun being drawn from its holster, "I assume the master knows you're expendable." Reaper shut the door before he heard the gunshot, looking for a way out before a patrol came by to see what happened. He quickly spotted an open window, jumping out of it and hiding just under its ledge. He heard goblin footsteps shortly after, also hearing the door opening, "Clean that mess up." He heard the Russian say, "And tell your master I expect to get paid soon." Reaper peered just over the lip of the window when he heard the door to the room open again, seeing the side of the Russian's face just as he rounded the corner. It was only a fleeting moment but Reaper recognized the face. It was the face of Mikhael Vassikin, which spelt all sorts of trouble for the mercenary. He waited for a minute, making sure that no one was around before he hopped back into the factory and made his way back to the meeting room.

He quickly headed back to the room without a hitch, seeing Mikhael on the upper level of the factory made him relax a little bit; he took a picture of the man before he went out of site so he could show Foaly. He then opened the door to the meeting room, seeing both Holly and Wraith there. Holly was holding a mechanical looking sphere in her hand, Reaper looked at it for a second, "Is that the…" he began but was cut off by Holly.

"Yes, this is the jamming device. Reaper, what happened on your end? We heard a gun shot."

"You sound almost worried for me, something happen while I was gone?" Reaper chuckled.

"Try to be serious, we were nearly discovered because of that. Did you shoot someone?" Holly was sitting down; she looked as if she had been worried.

Reaper sighed, "No, I didn't shoot anyone. Although you probably won't like me telling you exactly who shot the gun."

"Well don't leave us in the dark Reaper," Wraith said, a little anxious, "Who did it?"

"Mikhael Vassikin," Reaper said, leaning against the wall. He heard Wraith let out a gasp of surprise.

"You're sure? I thought he was stuck in Russia." Wraith said, excitedly.

"I did too, but it seems like he's here in America now, and working with the goblins, double whammy." Reaper sighed, sliding down to the floor, "This complicates the situation considerably."

"Wait," Holly said, a level of curiosity in her voice, "who is this Mikhael Vassikin person you're talking about?"

"You remember that situation where you helped Artemis Fowl II save his father?" Reaper asked her, having read over that file not too long ago.

"Yes," She said, she didn't sound like she liked where this was going.

"He was one of the men involved, in fact he was there when Artemis made the exchange for his father. Wraith and me assumed he had been taken care of already, but it seems like that wasn't the case. So now we have to try to get out of here without him noticing us, a difficult feat but not impossible." Reaper looked up at the ceiling, thinking for a minute when he heard the alarm sound. He sat up immediately, "What the hell happened!" He said, almost yelling.

"My guess is they discovered the jamming device was missing." Wraith replied, calmly turning off the safety to his M-16.

Reaper pulled out his twin pistols, cocking them, "We need to move now before this room is filled with enemies." He said, regaining his composure. He heard the door behind him opening, turning and firing two shots at a goblin patrol that was coming by, they were both knocked out instantly but the sound the guns made would draw attention to their location.

On the outside of the room they heard Mikhael shouting, "Find them, I don't want them to escape!"

Reaper sighed, "I guess the element of surprise is lost, let's get going now." Reaper and Wraith began running while Holly activated her wings and began flying, the room had no windows they could jump out of so the only way out was the way they came in. As soon as they opened the door to the room they saw goblins and demons scrambling everywhere. On the ledge of the platform they saw Mikhael barking order, looking around the area. Almost immediately his eyes made contact with Reaper's and for a split second all seemed to go quiet as Reaper and Mikhael both started aiming their guns at each other. For one final second the triggers were pulled, the guns pointed at the other's user, the only sound made for the both of them was the sound of the guns firing. Reaper felt the wind off of the bullet whiz past his head and the Russian must have felt the same because Reaper had missed. He saw Mikhael aiming for another shot and began running as the goblins started seeing them and began throwing fireballs.

Reaper tossed a smoke grenade on the ground as a fireball landed behind him, the room quickly began filling up with an opaque fog as the three opened the door they had come in through. The two goblin guards were still unconscious on the ground and reaper thought about grabbing one, remembering their original mission was to take a prisoner, but the sounds behind him helped as a reminder of the dire situation they were in. As soon as he and Wraith got onto open ground they began sprinting at top speed, headed towards where the car was parked. A sound from behind him made Reaper look around for a second, he saw a single goblin on all fours and hurrying towards the group. This would have amused Reaper, them being a good distance away from the goblin, if it wasn't for the fact that it was moving at an incredible speed.

Reaper turned, firing his pistols at it and made good connection with its head but for some reason the thing managed to keep going, and keep gaining on them. Reaper turned around, stopping himself and pulling out his two short sticks, holstering his twin pistols. When the goblin got to a certain distance Reaper saw it leap directly at him, leaping a good twenty feet, it clawed at him but Reaper was too fast for the goblin, smacking it right across the jaw, the creature flew to the side and stumbled around for a bit. Reaper kicked it in the stomach and it fell to the ground, finally unconscious. Reaper nodded at Holly who put a pair of vacuum cuffs on it. They quickly closed the distance between them and the car once Wraith came by and picked up the goblin. Reaper opened the trunk of the car, instructing Wraith to toss the goblin in there. As they did so Reaper thought he heard a familiar sound, but they didn't have time to think about that, he looked back at the factory and saw more goblins and demons coming out of it. Some of the goblins even started firing their softnose lasers at the group. Reaper quickly climbed in the driver's seat and put his foot on the gas, the cars tires spun for a second, throwing up sand, and they took off, leaving the goblins and demons to shout and scream as they drove away.

The car was silent for a few seconds, the group catching their breath. It had been very exciting and their adrenaline was still pumping. After they had begun to relax Reaper felt such a great sense of relief come over him he couldn't help but start laughing. He was laughing so hard that he didn't even notice that the other two were laughing right along with him. He pressed a button on the side of his helmet, contacting Foaly. "Foaly," Reaper began, "we got the jamming device and a goblin prisoner."

"Is that all? I was expecting you to pick up a cake on the way back," Foaly's sarcastic voice came on all three of their helmets.

"Bah, I never trusted cake, too many people said it was a lie. Anyways, Foaly, I've got some disturbing footage that I need you to look at, as well as the person responsible for supplying the goblins with batteries and supplies." Reaper pressed a different button on the side of his mask, this time sending the files to Foaly. "The jamming device has been disconnected from the main power source, so don't expect it to mess with the meeting area, and please clean that place up, every time I walk in there I feel like I need to take a shower." The sound kept growing louder as Reaper drove, when he reached the road he realized what the sound was. Both Reaper and Wraith looked at each other suddenly, realizing the danger they were in. Their heads turned, followed shortly by Holly's, and sure enough it was there. An attack helicopter was following them, driven by Mikhael Vassiken.


	6. A Desperate Escape

An explosion erupted behind the car as Reaper drove as fast as he could, but to no avail. Mikhael was still closing in on them, and firing missiles at them periodically. Reaper looked at Wraith, saying, "Well don't just sit there, contact Foaly! We need to get authorization to use lethal force!"

Holly, who was bouncing around horrifically in the back, asked, "Why lethal force? I thought you were on a strictly non-lethal basis."

"What do you think rubber bullets are going to do against that thing," Reaper replied sarcastically. "We need something that can actually bring that helicopter down." He adjusted his rear view mirror to look up at the helicopter, he would have contacted Foaly himself but he needed to focus all of their attention on getting out alive.

He heard Wraith on the comm. link in their helmets, "Foaly, we got ourselves in something pretty deep. We need to use lethal force if we're going to get out of this alive."  
Foaly's voice came to life on their helmets, "What kind of situation is it Wraith? Why isn't Reaper the one asking? He's usually the one that contacts me."

"Unfortunately Reaper is currently keeping all of us alive and can't really talk right now. As for the situation, we've got an attack helicopter on our ass!" Reaper could tell Wraith was stressed, he usually didn't yell, much less to the person who was paying them.

Reaper heard Foaly sigh, "Alright," he started, "I'll try to get you authorization but it needs to come from Commander Kelp. You'll have to wait for a few minutes."

"We don't have a few minutes!" Reaper shouted so loud that Foaly could hear it from Wraith's helmet, even though Reaper's microphone wasn't turned on.

"I'll do my best, but you'll have to hold on." Foaly said as he turned off his comm. link.

Reaper swerved out of the way of an explosion that landed in front of the car right before it killed all three of them, he heard Wraith ask, "Do you think he'll get us the authorization?"

"Yeah," Reaper said as he sped up to avoid another missile that landed next to them. "He will, because she's here," he nodded his head back

"What do you mean by 'because she's here'?" he heard Holly ask.

"We're humans, Miss Short," Reaper replied, keeping his eye carefully on the helicopter, "and not only that, we're mercenaries. It was made very clear to us that we were expendable. You, however, are not expendable since you're one of the people, and an LEP officer at that. Because you're here Wraith and I might get to continue living. So thank you for that much Miss Short." Reaper spun the car to where it made a 90 degree turn, narrowly avoiding another missile. "I think that was the last of the missiles." He stated, but not with any sense of relief in his voice.

As the car kept speeding on he started hearing the front machine gun of the helicopter spray bullets. Reaper began swerving the car around wildly, desperately trying to keep the car from getting hit by a single bullet. "What the hell is Foaly doing?" Wraith asked, it was more of a statement then a question really but Reaper wanted to ask that as well. This seemed to take a little longer then necessary, it was a lot simpler when they were just instructed to go out, kill someone, then come home and enjoy payment for a job well done.

Reaper could almost sense the bullets getting closer, turning the car to where it would be facing the opposite direction before they were filled with more holes than Swiss cheese and flooring it once again. The maneuver seemed to work, the gun stopped firing for a few moments anyways. It was at this time that Foaly's voice came on their helmets again, "Alright," he said, it sounded like he was panting, "I got you the authorization. But please try to keep whoever's driving the helicopter alive."

"I'm not making any promises," Wraith stated, almost laughing. They heard Foaly sigh as he signed off. Wraith unbuckled his seat, opening the sunroof that had been installed on the car, and reaching into the back to grab the rocket launcher on the floor that he had brought along for the ride. "See," Wraith said, "I told you I wasn't going overboard."

"Just shut up and shoot the guy already," Reaper said, annoyed.

"Alright, alright," Wraith laughed, inserting a rocket in the weapon. Reaper watched as Wraith maneuvered his body to where his torso and rocket launcher were sticking out of the sunroof. Reaper checked out of the rear view mirror one last time, seeing the helicopter again, he would have started swerving again but he knew that Wraith needed to line up his shot so he kept the car steady. A few moments passed and he heard the sound of the rocket launcher firing. He also heard Wraith swear under his breath.

"You missed?" Reaper asked, almost jokingly.

"Oh shut up, it's a helicopter that's not exactly easy to hit." Wraith replied, getting back into the car and loading another shot.

"You'd better not waste this one, that's the last rocket we've got." Reaper stated, swerving a bit to avoid the gunfire, "And I can't keep the car steady any longer otherwise we're all dead."

"Don't make it too easy for me," Wraith slipped himself through the sunroof again, taking aim as bullets flew through the air. For a few moments time stood still, the rocket flew from the launcher, flying straight as Reaper swerved to avoid the hail of bullets. The rocket got closer to the helicopter, flying true. Reaper took his last look of the helicopter before it burst into flames and crashed to the ground, to the right of it he saw a parachute deploy, realizing that Mikhael had managed to escape death at just the right moment. The helicopter hit the ground in a large explosion of mangled metal and destroyed weaponry.

The car stopped, the feeling of dread had passed over everyone and they began laughing again, this time sure that nothing else would go wrong. Reaper sat back in his seat, pulling his hat over the eyes of his mask breathing heavily after a hearty fit of laughter, "Ugh, alright," he said, calming down, "I'll call Foaly, tell him that we made it. I'm certain he and Commander Kelp are worried sick about Miss Short."

"Wait," he heard holly say, also regaining her composure, "you said that you were expendable. Can you tell me why?" Reaper sensed that she meant no harm but the question took the mirth out of the car almost immediately.

"We're soldier for hire, Miss Short." Reaper said, sliding his hat back up to its original position. "There's always going to be another person willing to take our position if we die, and for a cheaper price in some cases. Generally we don't live long enough to actually create bonds with other people so when we die no tears will be shed over our grave. Nobody cares about us and we only care for ourselves because that's how our lives tend to go. People see us as heartless monsters that will do anything, even kill our own mothers, for money. Of course that isn't the case for all of us, Wraith and me don't fall under that category anyways, but the misconceptions of other people make it nearly impossible to live a normal life."

"If it's such a horrible life then how come you remain mercenaries?" Holly asked, cocking her head to the side.

Reaper chuckled at this, "Because it's what we're good at, Miss Short, and to tell you the truth I can't really picture myself being anything else. What about you Wraith, do you have any other reasons why you stay a mercenary?"

Wraith shrugged, "It's a good way to see the world I suppose. Like our last mission before we met up with Foaly, It was in Moscow right?"

Reaper nodded, "Yeah, we needed to assassinate some mafia leader or something like that. Damn near froze to death on that one."

"How did you meet Foaly? I mean I certainly hope you weren't the ones to contact him otherwise you would have been mind-wiped instantly."

"That's true, we didn't contact him first. He sent us an email, of course we didn't know he was a centaur at the time but he didn't bother telling us." Reaper explained, "So when we got to the area he said for us to meet at we were totally unprepared for when we saw Foaly himself."

Wraith began laughing as he continued on where Reaper left off, "He nearly wet himself when we pulled our guns and almost shot him. The poor guy was quivering with terror."

Reaper sighed as Wraith continued laughing uncontrollably. Reaper continued, "That's when we met Commander Kelp as well, he explained the situation fairly thoroughly, although he didn't particularly care for us. But I can't really blame him; we don't exactly look like the friendly types. But that's how we came to know each other, not exactly the best first impression but we're here now and about to get paid for a job well done."

Holly nodded, sitting back in her chair, she looked up at Reaper's mask saying, "Thanks for the help, I don't think I would have made it out alive without you."

Reaper shook his head as he looked back at her, "Bah, don't mention it, it's just an occupational obligation. I should thank you, without your presence we would have ended up face down in the dirt, I should also apologize for the way we first met and all the trouble we've caused."

Wraith managed to stop his laughter for a few moments, nodding back at Holly as well, "Yeah, sorry about all that. I'm just happy we didn't end up dead."

Holly nodded at both of them while Reaper pressed the button on the side of his mask, "Foaly," he started, "we're alive and headed back now."

They all heard a sigh of relief coming from the Centaur, "That's good, do you have everything I asked for?"

"We couldn't get a demon but we nabbed a goblin that might interest you. He wasn't like the others, his abilities seemed more…enhanced, I want you to run a few medical tests on him, see what exactly is going on with him."

"Right," Foaly said, "Bring him to the meeting point and we'll get this straightened out."

"And our pay?" Wraith asked, anxious.

"You'll be getting that as well as your next mission as soon as you get here." Foaly said, a sigh of annoyance came from the centaur this time.

Reaper cut off the link putting the car into drive and put his foot on the pedal, "About time," he said, relieved. Of course he was a little upset that there would be no break in for them but there was no rest for the wicked, and in his mind he wasn't exactly a saint. The sun was beginning to rise and he yawned, he desperately needed some sleep but money and the job came before that so he sucked it up and kept driving.


	7. Aftermath

"You were careless Reaper!" Reaper gritted his teeth, he had been taking a verbal beating by Trouble for ten minutes now, and this was normal. When it came to humans Reaper felt he was lower on the list then most for Trouble Kelp. "You went in there too brashly, how could you miss a helicopter!"

"Well in my defense it was very dark out." Reaper said jokingly, but it came out weakly.

"Don't try my patience mudman, you're desperately close to getting your mind wiped. The only thing that's keeping you safe is the fact that you managed to get a decent amount of information." Reaper watched as Kelp rubbed his face in frustration. "Just tell me how this Mikhael Vassiken person is involved with the goblins."

"Ah, well he was actually the supplier for the goblins. Seems that he gave them the batteries, supplies for making softnose lasers, and a certain drug that we have no idea about."

"So what your telling me is that he's a smuggler?"

"Yes, he was previously a member of the mafia, he was involved with the Fowl hostage exchange. I'm certain you remember that."

"I've been trying to forget, I try to forget about the situations involving the mud whelp."

Reaper turned his head quizzically, "You mean Artemis Fowl II? Seems a bit harsh don't you think?"

"Reaper at this point I'd be worrying about my own skin if I were you."

"Why? You said I was safe, and Foaly stated that he had another mission for me. I have more important things to do then listen to you lecture me."

Trouble began growling, "Reaper, you're getting dangerously close to being thrown to the wolves. Do you even know how close you came to losing one of my best LEP officers!"

"Nice to see you care about Wraith and me."

Trouble sighed, sitting down in one of the many chairs in the base, "Just go, just know that you're on thin ice Reaper."

Reaper had turned around and left before he mentioned the last part. He had this conversation before, many times actually. Kelp just never cared for Reaper or Wraith. Of course it was the same with every other employer, he had gotten used to it. He looked around the familiar cobweb infested building, he was seriously thinking about donating a large amount of money to cleaning this place. Wraith was leaning against a wall while Holly was sitting down on another chair. Reaper picked up his arms, "Yeah, got it over with. He's mad and blames us for it but we're good."

"So it was like you said?" Wraith asked, almost laughing.

"Yep, we ended up shooting our way out and took most of the blame for it." Reaper replied, lighting another cigarette and putting it in the slit in his mask.

"What do we do now?"

Reaper took the cigarette out of his mouth, blowing out a puff of smoke, "Well, I assume we wait for Foaly, get our pay, then get our next mission and go onto our next great adventure which will end the same way as almost all of our missions end. Life is good when it's simple isn't it?"

"What about me?" Holly asked, waving some smoke away from her face.

"Well, I think it was made very clear that you wouldn't be working with us for a very long time or…ever. Anyways it was good working with you Miss Short. Good luck with whatever life throws at you and all that." Reaper heard a small commotion being made behind him "Is our reptilian friend conscious again?"

Wraith nodded, "That seems like an accurate assumption. You want me to "sedate" him?"

"That won't be necessary, we'll be taking him to LEP headquarters soon enough." They heard a voice coming from the left.

"So good of you to finally join us Foaly. You said you had a job for us? And please tell me that you have our payment." Reaper tossed the cigarette into a nearby garbage bin, looking directly at the centaur.

"Yes I have your payment, Reaper. But about your next job, that will have to wait until after we run some tests on our friend here. He does seem altered. But more importantly, the footage you sent us. How exactly did the goblins manage to muster enough brainpower to create an assembly line?"

"That I can't answer Foaly, I have no idea on how it happened, or why Mikhael Vassiken was involved, but I know that neither means good news."

"Can you answer how the goblins found a way to manufacture softnose lasers?"

Reaper shook his head, "Unfortunately we're still in the dark on this one Foaly, we have no idea on what's going on with the goblins or about the drug that Mikhael mentioned, or how the goblins managed to get their hands on a jamming device like the one they had. Either way it's a big bother to both the humans and fairies alike."

Foaly nodded, going over to the goblin, which was handcuffed to a chair. He was fighting furiously to escape, but to no avail. He looked back at the three, "Go on and take a break for a while. This will take until at least tomorrow." He lifted his index finger, shooting the goblin with a tranquilizer dart that was on his finger at the time. "Commander Root used this on Cudgeon on the first mission involving Fowl," he explained, "Had to be careful the entire time I had this."

Reaper yawned, not caring about what Foaly was talking about, he found an area on the floor that wasn't so dusty, removing his trench coat and folding it to be a pillow. He lay down on the floor, placing his hat over the eye slits in his mask, and got some much needed sleep. He decided that whatever problems he was going to face would be face more effectively in the morning.


	8. First Time Flyers

Reaper looked around at his surroundings, where was he? This place didn't seem familiar, yet at the same time he felt like he had seen it before. He was in a thick forest, the trees were dark and there was a river flowing in the distance. The place was calm, yet at the same time foreboding. He couldn't shake the feeling of dread he had. He sighed, deciding that he might as well try to find his way out of this. He walked forward, he kept walking forward but he didn't find anything, in fact he almost felt like he was going in circles. He walked for who knows how long when he stopped, hearing voices. He reached for his pistols but nothing was there. He crouched down low and began slowly making his way towards the source. While crawling he noticed the voices getting louder but it was only until he reached a clearing that he actually understood them. He looked up, there was a small mound surrounded by the river and on top of it was two people. One of them, a tall man in camouflage, was cradling a young woman with beautiful black hair in similar attire in his arms, a small trail of blood led up to the two. "Let me ask you something," he heard the woman ask. Even though he was pretty far away he heard the two as clear as day. Reaper was about to get up and try to talk to them but he felt something pulling on his back, dragging him away.

Reaper opened his eyes with a gasp, sitting up even though he had no reason why. He looked around again, this time he was in the base; his trench coat was folded up on the ground almost like a pillow. He sighed, placing his hand over his mask. "What's wrong Reaper?" he heard Wraith's familiar voice. He looked up to see him cleaning his M-16.

Reaper shook his head, "Nothing, just a dream." He stood up, stretching his back, it wasn't his best idea to sleep on the floor but that was done with. "Where's Foaly?" He asked, looking around and not seeing the centaur anywhere.

"He left after you fell asleep," Wraith said, putting his gun on a holster on his back. "Along with Holly and Commander Kelp. By the way Kelp looked more angry then usually, care to explain that?"

Reaper shrugged, "Same old same old, except this time our antics had an LEP officer involved."

Wraith nodded, "Ah, so since one of them was involved he actually cared if she got hurt. You know what? This situation has gotten entirely too familiar with us."

"While that may be true, Wraith, I wouldn't give this job up for the world."

"And why not, dare I ask?"

"It's a great way to blow off steam," Reaper replied, laughing.

Wraith chuckled a bit, looking to the door on the left, "Foaly should be here in a matter of minutes. I contacted him a little while ago. I tried to wake you up but you were completely out of it."

Reaper stood up, picking up his trench coat and brushing it off. "Did he examine the jamming device and goblin?" He lit a cigarette and put it in the slit in his mask.

Wraith nodded, "Yeah, he did. I told him to explain when he got here so you didn't miss out on any details."

Reaper adjusted his hat; he took out the cigarette and blew out a puff of smoke, "Right, just pray to god that he gives us our pay."

"I would if I bothered praying, never found the time to."

"Neither have I, my friend. If you have time to pray in this job then you're either dead or retired, either way you stop getting paid and money doesn't matter anymore. What a horrible life that must be." Reaper put the cigarette back into his mouth, he was certain Foaly would have the money; he was generally good on his word. Reaper stretched his shoulders again, he heard his back pop and he grunted a bit. "I'm going to on a walk around for a minute or two, contact me if Foaly gets here."

Wraith nodded, "Just don't get lost, I'd hate to have to send LEP officers to find you."

Reaper chuckled, putting the cigarette back into the slit in his mask, he began wandering aimlessly around the shuttle station, not much was there really but he wanted some time to think. This was one of those rare opportunities that he got to where he actually had time to himself. Usually he thought about how he was going to spend his money but this time he was thinking about the dream he had last night. For some reason he couldn't get the thought out of his mind, it seemed so far away yet so…familiar. Where had that happened? His thoughts were racing, what could the dream mean? Did it mean anything? Questions like this kept pouring into his mind; none of them had any real answers.

He was so deep in thought that he had lost track of where he was, he shook his head and looked around this new area. It seemed almost impossible, there was actually more dust here then in their usual meeting spot. He heard Wraith's voice on his mask, "Reaper," he started, "Foaly's here, come on he's got our pay and next mission."

Reaper sighed, pressing a button on the side of his mask, "Roger that Wraith, I'll be there in a minute." He spit out his cigarette, throwing it into a nearby garbage bin. Another mission would be a good distraction from his dream so it wasn't really that bad. He turned his back on the room he was in and went back to Wraith and Foaly.

When he got back he saw Foaly holding an envelope, Reaper assumed it was his pay, and the jamming device. "So good of you to join us," Foaly said, Reaper sensed a tinge of annoyance in his voice.

"Good to be here, Foaly." Reaper replied, Foaly handed him the envelope. "So you have our next mission ready then?" He asked, opening it to find it full of American bills.

Foaly nodded, "That's correct Reaper, we began work on questioning and examining the goblin you captured for us but the jamming device is giving us some problems."

"What kind of problems?" Reaper asked as Foaly handed him the sphere that had been the cause of so many problems.

Foaly looked down for a minute, mumbling a bit. Reaper thought he heard, "…Can't get past the security protocols…"

Obviously Wraith heard this as well, asking, "Did you try smashing it with a hammer?"

The glare Foaly gave the two of them was so cold and unforgiving that they almost stepped back. Evidently this was a sensitive subject for Foaly and Reaper decided it was best not to pursue the subject. "Okay, so what's our next job?" He quickly asked before anything else went wrong.

"You're going to Fowl Manor," Foaly answered, he still seemed a little angry at Wraith. "I want you to take this to Artemis Fowl II and see if he can't crack the codes. I'll send notification to him so they don't assume you're assassins or something like that."

Reaper cocked his head to the side, "Wait, isn't that usually work for LEP officers or something? I thought we didn't do deliveries."

"You wouldn't be doing this if we didn't have a large sum of our officers cleaning up the mess you made with that helicopter."

Reaper nodded, "Point taken, so how exactly will we be getting to Ireland then? Will we be going by plane, boat, or what?"

It was then that Foaly smiled, which disturbed Reaper. Normally when Foaly smiled at them it meant bad things were going to happen to them that he particularly enjoyed, after a few seconds Foaly said, "You'll be taking a pod down to the shuttle station, and from there you'll be going to another up to the Irish countryside."

Somehow the explanation of what they were about to be put through made the feeling in Reaper's gut worse. "Where exactly is this pod we're going to be taking?" he asked, nervously.

Foaly waved for them to follow, Reaper and Wraith looked at each other. Hesitantly the followed the centaur to the boarding area, seeing an egg shaped pod sitting there.

"Foaly," Wraith said, "I'm not sure about the egg."

"Unfortunately," Foaly started, "We can't have you going to an airport and causing a scene with your getup, and we don't have enough time to have you take a boat to Ireland."

"No, there's always plenty of time, I like taking my time. Taking my time is good, taking time spares me an egg related death." Wraith said, almost babbling at this point.

Reaper looked at the egg shaped pod, then looked at Foaly who was ignoring Wraith at this point, "Do I get the feeling that you're enjoying this?"

Foaly looked at him, grinning again, "What gives you that idea Reaper?"

Reaper sighed, dragging Wraith, who was still babbling, with him. "Know that if we die Foaly I'm not speaking to you again."

Foaly entered the pod, "I can live with that." He said, getting into a seat.

Reaper and Wraith looked around the inside, it wasn't exactly furnished but it looked comfortable enough, there were a few small chairs and in the front there was a pixie that looked at them with an almost fiendish face. "Foaly," Reaper asked, "who might that be?"

"That's Doodah Day," Foaly replied, "He's one of the best drivers that I've ever seen, and he'll be flying both of your pods."

Reaper wasn't reassured, he sat down in one of the chairs, his body barely fitting in it, and managed to get the buckles around his body. He watched as Wraith did the same, having even more trouble then Reaper. The next thing they heard was the roar of the engines and they began their descent to the underground.


	9. Underground Operations

"You're cruel Foaly, very cruel man." Reaper was kneeling on the ground in the pod; the flight had been absolutely terrible. Through the whole thing the pod was jostled around like a child's plaything while the landing was so nerve racking that the two humans could barely stand it. Reaper was on the verge of vomiting in his mask, panting heavily to try and calm his stomach. He noticed Wraith doing the same thing, "I don't ever want to do that again." He stated, rolling onto his back.

Reaper looked over at Wraith, who managed to get himself standing upright. Wraith looked at him, his knees shaking, "I blame you for this." He said, Reaper could tell he was about to throw up when he said that.

"Ah shut it," Reaper said when he managed to get his stomach to stop rolling as much. Reaper tried to get his bearings but the thought of having to do this over again was almost too horrible for him to stand. He stayed on the ground for a few seconds before he saw Foaly hovering over him.

"Are you ready to go?" Foaly asked, smiling.

"J-just give us a minute to let our stomachs settle," Reaper replied, taking in a few more deep breaths.

"And why would I do that exactly?" Foaly raised an eyebrow.

"How many LEP officers are there to make sure none of the civilians see us walking around the area freely?" Reaper asked, his stomach started to relax a little to where he could stand up.

"Twenty, why?"

"Then that means there are twenty people Wraith and me need to make a first impression on. We're supposed to be big scary mercenaries, we can't be seen by the others in this condition."

"I don't see the reason why it's so important, I mean they're probably never going to see you again."

"Which is why the first impression is the most important one. If they have a lasting opinion of you based on how they see you for one time then you'd better damn well make it a good opinion."

Foaly sighed, shrugging his shoulders. "Whatever, just don't take too long otherwise I'll get someone fresh out of flying school to get you to Ireland."

Reaper straightened up quickly after that last comment, "Right, I think we're good right now. Wraith, are you good? Of course you are, okay let's get going before we keep the others waiting."

Wraith straightened his hoody, "Of course, after all we'd be setting a poor first impression if we did keep them waiting."

Reaper nodded at Doodah Day, "Open the door, I think we're good now." He saw the pixie shrug, pressing a button on the control pad of the pod. The door opened with a hiss as the two mercenaries, followed by Foaly and shortly after Doodah Day, walked into the station, their chests puffed out. In the room they saw several LEP officers who looked directly at them, their mouths almost agape. It was a good thing that Reaper was wearing his mask because under it he was grinning like a small child at Christmas. He could tell Wraith was doing the same because his shoulders were almost shaking from laughter. As they continued through the station there were even more LEP officers who gave them the same looks. Reaper always enjoyed meeting new people since their outfits almost always intimidated them, but there was always more to it then that. A certain air that he had, probably from his past a certain air that most killers had.

After a while of walking Foaly pointed to another loading area, that was when Reaper sighed, he didn't want to do this all over again. Not while he was still having his fun, he didn't even get a chance to scare the living hell out of one of them yet. Still, duty called and the job came before personal enjoyments. They entered the pod, buckling themselves in while Doodah Day entered his seat. He turned and looked at both of them, "You'll want to hold on to whatever you ate for breakfast." He said, smiling, "The ride back up is worse then down."

Reaper braced himself, grabbing onto the chair tightly, he saw Wraith do the same and they both had a moment of fear while the roar of the magma started approaching the small pod. "I still blame you for this," Wraith said, sighing at Reaper.

"Shut it, you were the one who shot the rocket launcher," Reaper said in response. If any words were said in response they were drowned out by the magma engulfing the pod and launching it upwards.


	10. Expected Dissapointments

"Reaper, I think I see the pearly gates!" Wraith exclaimed as he lay on the ground.

"Wraith, I see Satan's domain, and I'm okay with that. I'm coming devil man, just wait up for me!" Reaper was on his back, reaching up for the sky. "Wraith, there's something I need you to know before I die…"

"What is it?" Wraith asked, Reaper saw him rolling on his side to look at him.

"You're my best friend man…I don't think we're going to see each other ever again so I thought you should know that…"

"Oh get over it already, my god. What is wrong with you two?" Reaper saw Doodah Day standing over him and glaring at the mercenary.

"Way to kill the moment there, buddy," Reaper said, sitting up. He felt truly sick to his stomach but he couldn't throw up in his mask. He couldn't let the fairy see what his face looked like either, that took all the mystery out of Reaper as a mercenary.

"Yeah, yeah call me evil and all that. I just need you two to get out of here soon, your transportation is just outside the base." Reaper watched as Doodah Day kicked Wraith.

Wraith automatically sat up, "I'm awake, not dying. Where are we again? Who am I now?"

"Wraith, stop screwing around, we've got work to do." Reaper stood up, brushing off his trench coat.

"Oh come on, screwing around on the job is one of my best qualities." Wraith said, getting to his feet.

"I fear for the world when you actually produce spawn Wraith." Reaper chuckled, stepping out of the pod as Doodah Day opened the doors.

"You think you're the only one that fears that day? Trust me I'm not looking forward to that ever." Wraith stepped out into the landing station.

Reaper looked around, there wasn't much to it really, it was cleaner then the one they usually went to when they met with Foaly and Kelp. As they walked to the door Doodah Day stopped them, "Wait a minute, Foaly wanted me to give you this." He sounded hesitant and resistant to say those few words.

"What did he want you to give us?" Reaper asked, he saw the pixie's face contort in a tangent of emotional pain

Doodah Day said nothing, holding out his hand and in it was a thin black box with a spike on the bottom. "What is it?" Wraith asked, hovering over Reaper's shoulder.

"A mongocharger," Doodah Day said through gritted teeth, "It boosts any vehicle's speed immensely. Foaly managed to convince me to give this to you, but if you so much as damage it in any way I'll make sure that you two will regret it."

"Right," Reaper nodded, he could tell the pixie wasn't joking. "Did Foaly give us any conditions to use the mongocharger or can we just use it for personal amusement?"

Doodah Day shook his head, explaining, "He said that you can only use it for top priority emergencies. He said that if you run into a situation like you did last time then you might want to use it considering the kind of transportation he got for the two of you."

Reaper sighed, pocketing the mongocharger and going through the exit, Wraith was close behind. He wondered what kind of transportation the centaur got for them, knowing Foaly it would probably be something he'd be embarrassed to be seen in. The door opened and Reaper looked around. The area was beautiful; he must have been in the Irish countryside because there wasn't a road to be seen. He didn't particularly care at that moment because he was taking in the rolling mounds of fresh green and patches of flowers around the building. He took in a breath of fresh air, it was cleaner then he had expected. He could have lost himself in that field but he shook his head, remembering that the job came first. He pressed a button on the side of his mask, "Foaly," he started, "We're at Ireland, though I think my stomach was left back at the station. Either way we need to know where our transport is so we can get to the Fowl residence."

Foaly's voice crackled onto the masks, "Right, you need to head maybe two miles north of here. You'll find it on the side of the road; the instructions to get to the Fowl home will be in the glove compartment. I'll send the notification that you're coming to Artemis in a little while."

"Alright, just be sure to send it before we arrive. I don't want to find a gun pointed in my face when I knock on the front door." Reaper said as he cut the link.

Wraith shouldered his M-16, "Well we have a bit of a hike on our hands, let's get moving."

Wraith made sure he still had the jamming device, "Yeah, I can't wait to see what transportation Foaly has waiting for us." They walked over a few hills, the HUD on their masks showed them which way was north. Reaper admired the scenery as he moved along, he had never been to Ireland before and he truly appreciated the tranquility of the place he was in. Reaper lit a cigarette, putting it in his mouth. The two remained silent as they continued to the road.

When Reaper saw their mode of transportation the cigarette in his mouth fell out and he stepped on it before it could make the grass catch on fire. He looked at the car they would be driving, a small yellow classic Volkswagen buggy, it was covered in dust and mud while one of the lights was out. The sunroof looked as if it was stuck open. All in all it was a piece of garbage that looked as if it wouldn't top out at 60 miles per hour. Reaper could tell why Foaly wanted them to have the mongocharger, he wasn't surprised at this though. He knew Foaly would pick something that would make the two mercenaries look ridiculous.

"Well, this is slightly disappointing." Wraith said when he looked inside the car.

Reaper looked in as well, the inside was dirty, immensely so. It had been torn up by the elements. The only two seats that weren't completely destroyed were the two front seats. Reaper got in on the driver's side, opening up the glove compartment while Wraith got in on the passenger's side. He pulled out a map, "At least this is in good enough condition." Reaper said, unfolding it. He studied the map quickly, handing it over to Wraith, "Read me the instructions as we get there." He said as Wraith began looking at the map.

Wraith nodded, as the Reaper started the car, a cloud of smoke came from the back. "Well, suddenly I'm fearful for my life," Wraith said, not bothering to look back at the cloud.

"Stop complaining Wraith, at this point should we really be surprised?" Reaper said as he began driving. The care coughed a few times as they started down the road. Wraith began reading off the instructions on the map as they continued on.


	11. First Impressions

"I'm telling you, you have the map upside down," Reaper said, looking at Wraith.

"And I'm telling you it's not," Wraith said defensively. "We're supposed to be in Dublin and here we are. How could I have screwed up?"

Reaper looked out the window, the city was very quaint, and it had a lot of history in it. He saw a tavern nearby, the very same one they drove by a little while ago. "Yes, Wraith, we may be in Dublin but the thing is you've been driving in circles for an hour now!" Reaper said, his eyes locking back onto the road.

"Oh come on, when could it have gotten mixed up?" Wraith said, looking over the map.

"Probably when you had to stop to drain your bladder an hour ago!" Reaper said, annoyed.

Wraith sighed, "Alright, alright if it will make you feel better I'm going to flip the map over. Just to show you that you're wrong." He flipped the map while he was saying this, looking over it. There was a moment of silence and reaper turned his head to look at his partner who had his hand over his face.

"You see," Reaper said smugly, "I'm right sometimes. Most times in fact."

"Oh shut up and drive, you need to take the next right, from there it should be a relatively straight line out of the city and to the Fowl estate." Wraith mumbled, placing the map on the dashboard.

"And how long should it take for us to get there?" Reaper asked, making the indicated turn.

"It should be an hour away from Dublin so not too long." Wraith leaned back in his chair, sighing.

"Never thought we'd get to meet Artemis Fowl II did you?" Reaper asked, his eye darting towards Wraith then back.

"To be honest no, and I'd prefer not to in all honesty. If there's one thing I learned from reading the Artemis Fowl files it's that things always get overly complicated when he gets involved." Wraith looked out the passenger window, admiring the city.

"You mean like it is now?" Reaper asked, almost laughing at their predicament.

"No, I mean things usually go from bad, to worse, to almost impossible to get out of, then finally to somehow pulling that victory out of nowhere. That sort of thing."

Reaper nodded his head in agreement to that, "True, but I have to admit, I'm curious to see what he's like in person. I'm also curious to see this Butler person, he seems awfully scary."

"You mean the only human to ever take on a troll in a fist fight and win? Hell yeah that's scary. Personally I'd just be happy running our normal jobs, you know, going in, shooting some tranquilizer darts, walking out, getting paid, rinse repeat. Simple, which is how life should be."

"Ah, as always you do bring up an excellent point. However, if life were simple then where would the excitement be?"

"The excitement, my friend, would be locked in a safe and thrown off the side of a dam. Then I get on with my life and live a long while with my guns."

Reaper shrugged, "While that may be your opinion I think that life can both be simple and have a bit of excitement. That's the life for me, which is why I became a mercenary in the first place. Of course it didn't turn out how I expected it to." He looked at Wraith who shrugged as well. They spent the next part of the car ride in silence, Reaper would look out the window from time to time while Wraith just kept his face locked onto the window he was next to.

After a while they started seeing numerous trees, Wraith had gotten so bored that he had fallen asleep face first on the dashboard. Reaper started looking for a place to turn since Wraith had said trees surrounded the house. When he spotted one he turned immediately and suddenly. He heard Wraith smack against the door of the car and laughed when he heard his companion swearing like a sailor. "Why did you do that?" Wraith said as he sat up, rubbing his head.

"Because it brought me joy," Reaper replied honestly. "Now wake yourself up enough to get the job done. We're almost there."

Wraith cracked his neck, "So we're finally here? Took you long enough to get here."

"This thing has a maximum speed of 65 miles an hour, how the hell am I supposed to speed things up? And before you say anything we're not allowed to use the mongocharger unless it's an **absolute **necessity." Soon they began pulling in across a gated area. The front gate was open, good then Fowl Manor was expecting company, meaning Reaper wouldn't open their front door to have a gun pointed at his face. Soon after they saw Fowl Manor, though the word manor hardly did it justice. The building was like a castle; Reaper suspected it was a castle before this but with a few additions. It was a bit extravagant in Reaper's opinions, but then again he was dealing with the infamous Fowl family.

He pulled the car to a stop before he was at a walkway leading up to the front door. Reaper looked at Wraith and said, "Stay here, wait until I give you the okay to come in."

"Why, dare I ask?" Wraith said, a tinge of complaint in his voice.

"If anything goes sour I'll need you to contact Foaly, consider me paranoid." Reaper replied, closing the door behind him as he stepped out of the car.

Wraith's voice came onto his mask, "Oh come on, how could anything have gone wrong? Foaly must have sent word to the young Fowl by now."

Reaper pressed a button on his mask, speaking to Wraith, "You can never be too sure, I just want to make sure I don't end up face first in the dirt with a clip of bullets in my brain. I'm going to die some day, yes, but I'd rather it be later then sooner." He stepped up to the front door and raised his hand to knock when it opened inwards. Reaper raised his hand in surrender, his other hand still on the button on his mask, when he saw the barrel of a sig sauer pointed directly at him. He looked beyond the barrel of the gun, which was so close to his face he could see the rifling, to see a very large, exceedingly so, man wielding it. The large man's hand looked like it could snap Reaper in two like a child snaps a twig. "Wraith…" he said quietly, trying to prevent the giant from hearing him, "I think we have a problem here."

Reaper looked up at the man's face. He was wearing sunglasses but had a stare so cold it put ice into Reaper's heart. His head was shaved and he was wearing an expensive looking suit. Wraith's voice came onto Reaper's mask as he was staring at the giant, "Why? What's going on?"

Reaper continued to whisper, "I'm facing a gun and a large and very scary man is holding it."

The man continued to glare at him, asking in a deep and gruff voice, "Who are you and what do you want?" Reaper could tell that the man was looking directly at the two holsters he had at his sides.

Reaper continued whispering; praying to god the man couldn't hear him, "Wraith, he's still pointing the gun at my face."

"Bah," Wraith started. "Our masks are bullet proof, what do you have to worry about?" To Reaper's horror he watched as the large man turned the safety on and flipped the gun around, looking ready to pistol whip him.

"Wraith," Reaper started again, "I think he heard you, and I think he's going to beat me with his bare hands."

"So? I think you could take just one man."

"Wraith, he's bigger than the door…I think he may be Butler."

"You mean the guy that beat a troll in a one on one fight? Doesn't he know we're just here for Artemis Fowl II?"

Reaper watched as the man's face went from a deep scowl to an even deeper one, taking a fighting stance right in front of the mercenary. "Wraith, do me a favor and shut up…or better yet, sever the connection and call Foaly. I have a sneaking suspicion that he hasn't sent the message yet. I also suggest you hurry, my pants are one false step away from being a pair of cackies…"

"Okay, that's disgusting." Wraith replied over the mike, "But I'll call Foaly, just try not to die."

The man continued staring at Reaper, "Both hands in the air, now. Before I decide to beat you within an inch of your life." Reaper complied without saying a word. "Now then, tell me who you are or else."

Reaper sighed, why did he always have to explain who he was to every new person he met? He took a deep breath, saying, "My code name is Reaper, my real name is to be kept confidential until a later notice. I'm a mercenary sent here to…" He didn't get to finish because the man grabbed him by his neck and nearly hoisted him up in the air.

"You're a mercenary? Are you here to kill Artemis?" The man's voice was a low growl now.

Reaper began choking, he managed to splutter out, "N-no, just let me down and we can…"

At this point Reaper felt himself being lifted into the air, he couldn't catch a breath of air as his windpipe was being closed off. "Then what are you here for!" The man said, his hand began closing around Reaper's neck.

"Butler, stop this now, this man is a guest and not an enemy." Reaper heard a voice, Irish in accent yet somewhat cold but definitely intelligent.

Reaper felt himself being lowered down as the man in front of him, that he now knew was Butler, said, "Artemis, are you sure we can trust him? Look at his outfit, and he's also a mercenary. Their not exactly known for their loyalty."

As Butler let go of his throat Reaper began coughing, "Trust me, at this point I have absolutely no intention of betraying any of you."

He saw Butler glaring at him, obviously the man meant business but before the manservant could say anything a young man, maybe 17 or 18 years old, stepped out in front of him. He was pale as a vampire and looked about as cold as one, he wore an even more expensive looking suit then Butler and had a smile that wasn't very settling. He extended a hand, "Artemis Fowl the 2nd, I believe you are the contact Foaly just told me about?"

Reaper grabbed Artemis' hand and shook it firmly, "Yes, I am. I have a partner, he's currently in the car, if I could call him?" He saw Artemis nod and he pressed the button on the side of his mask, "Wraith," he started. "The area is safe now, come on."

A few moments later he heard Wraith coming up the walkway, mumbling something about food from what Reaper could hear. But Wraith immediately stopped when he saw Butler, "Damn" he said looking over the manservant, "Reaper didn't exaggerate when he told me about your size. Did you get milk straight from the cow's teat or something?"

Butler's cold stare froze Wraith directly in his tracks, Reaper saw Artemis sigh. He couldn't blame the young man, Wraith wasn't exactly one to make a good first impression on the people that actually mattered. "Please come in," Artemis said, Reaper could tell he was forcing a smile. "We have business matters to discuss." Both Reaper and Wraith nodded, following the young man blindly, this all felt like they were in a dream, but it was real, and unfortunately so was the giant man holding a weapon in his hands that would do anything to make sure the person he was protecting stayed out of harms way.


	12. The New Deal

Reaper looked at his surroundings with almost a sense of awe. The manor was beautiful, well furbished, clean, essentially everything that he wasn't. Of course his response to any comments on that would be, "Screw you I work for a living." But it didn't hurt to admire his surroundings. He and Wraith followed Artemis to a room with a few chairs and glass table. They both sat down, the seat was surprisingly comfortable.

Artemis sat down across the table, Butler taking a seat next to him. A few silent moments passed, Reaper honestly didn't know what to say, and neither did Wraith evidently. Eventually Artemis broke the silence, "If you would please remove your masks in my company?"

Reaper shook his head, "I'm sorry Master Fowl we can't do that for fear that our identities will be made public. That puts us in a state of risk and thereby makes our jobs infinitely more complicated. I'm certain you understand?"

He saw Artemis sigh and looked at them both again, the same cold stare that his the file described him as having on his face, "Then you would do well to at least remove your hat and hood while in my house. Surely there's nothing against that is there?"

The two mercenaries looked at each other for a few seconds, they almost always wore their articles of clothing that covered their heads. Of course one look at the giant manservant was enough to put aside their hesitation and they quickly removed the previously stated articles of clothing. Reaper glanced at Wraith's head once he took off his hood, he didn't get to see the top of his head too often, and was almost surprised to see Wraith's head was completely bald. Reaper looked into the glass table, curious to see if he had such a symptom from wearing his hat for such a long time. He smiled under his mask when all of his hair was still there.

"How old are you exactly?" Artemis asked as Reaper saw him looking at his hair, which was pure white.

"I'm 25," Reaper responded, a little embarrassed that others were staring at his exposed hair.

"So then you dye your hair this color?" Artemis asked, raising an eyebrow.

Reaper shook his head, "No, unfortunately, it started graying around 10 years ago. I would dye it but I'm too lazy to bother and people don't usually see my hair."

Artemis sat back in his seat, he then placed his hands in his lap, "While that is very interesting I unfortunately don't care for the details. A simple yes or no would have sufficed for an answer. Now then, please introduce yourselves, I won't bother doing business with either of you unless I know what to call you."

Reaper felt his eye twitch for a second; he could already tell that dealing with Artemis Fowl would be difficult at best. He took a deep breath and said, "I'm Reaper, this is my colleague Wraith."

"And why exactly have you come here to my manor? I trust that this is a business meeting and not a couple of friendly people coming by to say a casual 'hello' and be on your merry way?"

"You'd be correct in assuming that me and my friend here have come for business purposes only. We've currently been sent by Foaly to see if you could examine the ins and outs of this device we confiscated by a group of goblins and demons working illegally." Reaper pulled out the jamming device from his pocket, putting it on the glass table.

"And why exactly should I help you, the one currently intruding upon my property, without seeing my consent first?"

Reaper paused for a second, "Would you allow me to contact Foaly for a minute?"

"Do what you must but I hardly see any point in that venture."

Reaper felt his eye twitch a little more, how the people managed to deal with the infamous Artemis Fowl was beyond him, he left the room. Once out of sight he pressed a button on the side of his mask, "Foaly," he started, "We made contact with Artemis but he's currently refusing to cooperate with us on examining the jamming device."

He heard Foaly sigh deeply on his mike, "Then try to find a way to get him to work with us. I don't care what it is we need that information."

"Well how exactly do you propose we do that?" Reaper asked, this conversation wasn't helping his agitation much.

"I don't know, try and make a deal with him or something. Find something he likes or dangle a shiny object in front of his face just do something."

"What exactly do we have to barter with Foaly? All we have is around 200 dollars in our collective pockets, the jamming device, and the mongocharger which, I'm fairly certain, is totally off limits for bartering."

There was silence on the microphone, Reaper was about to cut the connection, assuming that Foaly had canceled the call but then Reaper heard a few words that he knew he would regret later on. "There's always you."

"Wait, you're actually suggesting that we use ourselves as a bartering chip?"

"Well of course, you're mercenaries, you'll do anything for money so that essentially means that you have some value to other people."

"But what about the data that Artemis gets if he decides to help us? How will we get it to you?"  
"Well, Artemis could really just send us the information meaning that your delivery would be unnecessary."

"And what about what we have to say in this matter?"

"Need I remind you that we are still covering up your mess on the job before this one? You're on thin enough ice as it is Reaper, I'm doing the best I can to just keep Commander Kelp from wiping your minds right now."

Reaper sighed, there was no point in arguing, "Alright, I'll make the offer but there's something I need to know before I cut the link."

"What?"

"When did you send Artemis the notification of our arrival?"

He almost heard Foaly laugh after he said this, "Right after he called me about your situation. Sorry Reaper but that's payback for the hell you're putting me through right now."

Growled, cutting off the link, he hated it when Foaly got a sense of humor because it usually involved Reaper receiving the business end of a stick, or rock, or gun, or any weapon capable of horribly maiming a face. Reaper composed himself, straightening up his dirty battle worn suit. He took a deep breath and walked back into the room, all three of the room's occupants looked at him expectantly. "So I assume you still want a reason to help us?"

He saw Artemis nod, "Please give me one, I'd love to hear what would make me want to assist you in any way possible."

"I'd like to propose a trade." Reaper said as deadpan as possible.

"Oh really? I'd like to see what you can actually barter with, as you can see money isn't an object so that's out of the question. You also look like you've traveled very lightly, meaning that device on the table, which I have no interest in I can assure you, is the only thing you brought with you. So you essentially have nothing to work with. If all you have to convince me is barter then I'd suggest you leave, or you would you prefer I save you the trouble and have Butler throw you out himself?"

Reaper looked at the manservant and shuttered when he cracked his knuckles, he averted his gaze from the giant man looking directly at Artemis, "I'd like to barter with our services as hired guns."

Artemis cocked his head to the side, "And what exactly do the 'hired guns' charge for their services?"

Reaper sighed, knowing he'd have to say it, but he didn't want to because that word was almost out of his personal dictionary, "We'll do it for f-…we'll do it for fr-…we'll do it for…"

"For free?" Artemis said, smiling his cold and dark smile.

Reaper merely nodded, not capable of saying anything else. But Wraith was, he stood up, "What!" he exclaimed, "Maybe we should think before we sell ourselves out without…selling ourselves!"

Reaper looked at Wraith, "I'm sorry, those are our orders from Foaly, Wraith. We're going to have to suck it up or our minds get wiped."

Wraith stood for a minute, his fists clenched. He calmed down after a few moments passed, "Alright, fine I'll cooperate, but only if you buy the next round of drinks next time we're at a bar."

"So basically I buy you a bottle of vodka and you'll do whatever Artemis tells us to? If he decides to help us that is." He saw Wraith nod and turned to Artemis, "So what do you say, we give you a…a freebie…and you analyze the jamming device for us?"

Artemis put his hand on his chin, after a few moments of silence he looked up, "Very well, I could have some use for you and your partner. I'll begin the analysis of the device immediately. Until then you might as well get yourself acquainted with Butler. I don't need my manservant breaking my new temporary workers spines in two."

Reaper looked at Butler, who didn't exactly seem friendly in any sense of the word, but Reaper didn't quite like the idea of having his spine snapped in two. He was about to start a conversation when butler stood up, "Artemis, if I may speak to you in private."

Artemis sighed, "If you must butler, but please make it quick. I'm assuming I have a lot of work to do." He grabbed the small mechanical ball off the table and walked out of the room along with Butler.

A few moments passed and Wraith looked at Reaper, saying, "What the hell just happened?"

Reaper shook his head, "I have no idea, but I feel like a part of my soul has been ripped out, torn to shreds, and put back in my body…freebies, I'm going to kill Foaly if he ever stops paying us."

"Artemis are you sure this is safe? They're soldiers for hire and would gladly betray us for the highest bidder." Butler was skeptical of these people working for Foaly, and he didn't like the idea of working with a pair cutthroat mercenaries.

"Oh relax Butler, they were willing to give us their services totally free of charge, and even more so they're hired by Foaly with a renewing contract. They're no threat to us."

"Artemis, I'm not sure if you've ever met these kinds of mercenaries. They're ruthless, soulless, and they'll do anything for money. They don't care about loyalty or any sentiments if you get in the way of their money they don't care who they have to step on to get it."

"Butler, I've encountered ruthless mob leaders, crazed megalomaniac pixies, rival geniuses, demons, pixies, faeries, trolls, and packs of goblins that couldn't tell the blade of a sword from the hilt. Believe me when I say I plan on taking every precaution possible but I'm not afraid. Trust me, I know what I'm doing."

Butler sighed, rubbing his temples; Artemis had another scheme, which spelled trouble for him. But as always he would stay with his charge to the end. "Just try not to get us all killed."

Artemis smiled a gleam in his eye, looking at the manservant, "I wouldn't dream of it my friend." Butler looked at Artemis, just a few years ago it was all about the money and personal gain. He thought of when they had their first adventure so long ago; he thought of how much he had changed. The thought brought him some semblance of peace. That feeling was immediately lost when he remembered just who he was going to be working with for the next few days.

He sighed; turning to face the room the two mercenaries were in, "Just pray that I don't kill them before the first day."

"I'm certain you can control yourself."

"I doubt it," Butler replied, straightening his tie.


	13. Rapid Pursuit

Reaper leaned back in his seat; it had been thirty minutes now and there was no sign of Artemis or Butler. For some reason not knowing where they were was worse than knowing that they were. He didn't bother speaking with Wraith, he felt like he needed to be aware of his surroundings at all times, to be distracted was to be weak, stupid, or dead. Either way he didn't like any of the alternatives. But after a while he began to get bored, pulling out a cigarette and putting it in the slit of his mask. He was about to light it when a giant hand came down from the heavens themselves and stole it from him. He would have said something against the thief but he realized that there was a very big man with quite a few guns on his person. Deciding it might be better for his personal health he remained silent. He swore he could have felt the floor rumble as Butler sat down in front of him, "Artemis has your first job, he would have given it to you himself but he wants to get to work immediately." Reaper could tell that Butler was saying this through gritted teeth.

"What is it?" Reaper asked, leaning forward.

"You're to go to the Dublin Airport and pick up someone, she's back from a trip to America." As Butler said this Reaper saw him sliding a brown envelope towards him. Reaper raised an eyebrow under his mask, wondering why they needed two mercenaries to pick up one girl. But he wasn't going to complain, an easy job considering he was dealing with the legendary Artemis Fowl.

Reaper picked up the envelope, putting it in his pocket, "So when are we supposed to get going?"

"Just get going, I'd prefer it if both of you left here as soon as possible." Butler said, glaring at the both of them.

Reaper and Wraith were silent for a moment, the big man intimidated both of them and they didn't want to disobey him. Butler's glare intensified for a brief moment and the two mercenaries jumped to their feet and quickly rushed for the door, not wanting to press their luck. As soon as they made it to the door leading outside they were so close to sprinting to the small yellow buggy that they had been so embarrassed to be seen in just a few moments before. They hopped into the car and turned it on, the cloud of smoke was all that was left of them as they drove off to the Dublin Airport.

"Reaper, now that I know we're not in immediate danger perhaps you should figure out where we're going?" Wraith was lying back in his seat, he was calm at this point but before they had been on the road for twenty minutes he was close to relieving himself in front of Fowl Manor.

Reaper sighed, slowing the car down and pulling the envelope out of his pocket. There was a picture and map inside, as well as detailed instructions on how to get to the Dublin Airport. Reaper passed the contents of the envelope and began driving towards Dublin. "So, who are we dealing with?" Reaper asked, his eye glancing to the left.

"She's cute, young too, I think I might have a chance with her." Wraith said, looking over the picture.

"Try to take this seriously Wraith." Reaper said looking over at his partner, "How old is she?"

"She looks like she's in her early twenties."

"Bah, she's probably not into older men." Reaper said paying attention to the road. "So where is this Airport?" Reaper listened to the instructions being read off, not bothering to pay too much attention to them. He was wondering where this little venture would take them, considering that when dealing with Artemis simple situations had a habit of getting out of hand, fast.

After several hours of driving the two mercenaries had realized they were lost again. After some miracle of guessing the two managed to find their way. Reaper parked the car somewhere outside of the building. He was about to exit the car when a sudden thought entered his mind, "Wraith," he said looking over to his colleague, "how are we going to get this person out of the airport? We can't exactly go into…an airport…in our outfits."

Obviously this thought hadn't occurred to Wraith because he didn't have an answer, "I don't know," he said after a while, "maybe you could check the paper?"

Reaper sighed, going over the paper with the instructions on it. There was nothing written about this situation so he resorted to digging through the envelope. He found a small sheet of paper with a few numbers on it, the two pondered over what had been found. "Any ideas on what this is?" Reaper asked, turning the paper over a few times.

Wraith shook his head, "I have no idea." He replied, "But there should be a bar somewhere near here. Let me know when you find something." As he said this he hopped out of the car and casually walking away.

"I bet he's going to get lost on the way there," Reaper said, going back to the numbers.

An hour went by and no updates had been made, and Wraith was definitely smashed by now. He gave up on the numbers a while ago, picking up the picture of the girl they were supposed to pick up. Wraith didn't lie, she was pretty, and her hair was long and blonde while her eyes were blue. Reaper couldn't put his finger on it but she seemed awfully familiar. While he was peering at the photo he heard his phone ring. When he looked at his phone Reaper saw a picture of Wraith sitting on a barstool, upside down, a bottle of beer in his hands, and a black tie wrapped around his head. Reaper shook his head, he really hated when Wraith got drunk. Reaper picked up his head, looking over the paper with the numbers in it and dialing them into his cell phone. As a few moments passed there was a voice on the other end. "Hello?" It was a young woman's voice so he assumed this was the person they needed to call.

"Might I ask who I'm calling?" Reaper asked, curious.

"This is Juliet Butler, and who is this?"

Reaper's eyes widened, hearing the last name and fearing it with an amazing intensity. "This is your ride, we're currently outside the Dublin Airport…if I may ask, would you happen to be related to…Butler?"

"Yes, I'm his sister. Have you met him?"

Reaper almost cried a little, the situation became exceedingly more complicated. "I've had the pleasure," he managed to say after a while of contemplation. Reaper could have sworn she knew his feelings because she began giggling. "Right, since I'm assuming you're here the car is out in the parking lot. I would come in and get you myself but I can't exactly come into the airport. I'm certain you'll understand when you actually see me."

"Alright, which car are you in exactly? I'm pretty sure it's going to be difficult to find it in a full parking lot."

Reaper poked his head out of the window, looking around the parking lot he was in as he examined all the cars in the area. "It's the only one you'd be embarrassed to be seen in," he finally said, sighing. He heard the other side of hang up, and he went back to sitting in the car alone. He appreciated the silence, knowing that Wraith was probably still drinking. He also knew that he'd have to deal with him later, that idea he disliked because when Wraith was drunk strange things began happening. After a while of waiting he saw Juliet walking through the parking lot. He sighed when she spotted the car he was in and shook her head. As she approached Reaper started the car again, she leaned towards the window and looked into the car. Reaper turned his head and waved, she waved in turn as she opened the door and entered the front seat.

"You weren't kidding," She said as she buckled herself up, "this car is pretty bad."

"Not my fault," Reaper replied, "I drive a classier car in America. This is what our employer gave us."

She nodded, looking around, "I was actually in America for some time." She said, "I was a wrestler there."

Reaper raised an eyebrow. How could she have been a wrestler? Suddenly Reaper thought he realized where she came from, "By any chance, would you happen to be the Jade Princess?" He asked.

He noticed her eyes widen slightly, "You've heard of me then?"

Reaper shrugged, "I've seen a few of your fights on T.V. I don't have much free time for myself so I can really only catch tidbits from time to time."

She smiled at Reaper, who in turn felt his face turn red under his mask. "It's good to know that I've attracted some attention during those times. Might I ask who you are?"

"My codename is Reaper, I would give you my real name but me and my colleague are to keep our personal identities secret while we remain mercenaries. I hope you can understand."

"What's it like being a mercenary?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

Reaper almost started laughing, "It's horrible!" he exclaimed. "You're a soldier for hire, once they are done with you they casually toss you away like yesterday's garbage. If you die no tears are going to be shed over your grave, and no one cares about you. The common man thinks that we're merciless cold-blooded killers that would murder our own mothers for a pit of pocket change and treat us like dirt. And the jobs we get sent on are even worse. They're dangerous and painstakingly difficult, more often then not they're the jobs that the regular military won't bother to do so they don't get their hands dirty. But that's what my partner and me have seen so far. We have yet to meet an employer who didn't see us as merely 'expendable'."

"If it's so horrible then why do you continue to do it?"

"I'm getting tired of people asking that question," Reaper sighed, leaning back in his chair, "I do it because I can't see myself doing anything else. Plus it's very exciting and the pay is very good if you manage to survive. For all of the bad things of being a mercenary the good things balance them out."

"So basically you stay because you can't find anything else to do?"  
Reaper nodded as he began driving the car, "That about sums it up. Now, we'll be taking you back to Fowl Manor as soon as I pick my colleague up. He's currently getting hammered at a bar somewhere by the airport."

"If you're supposed to keep your identity secret then how do you do that and drink at the same time?" Juliet asked, Reaper had to admit it was a pretty good question.

"We both have small slits in our masks for drinking mainly, I use mine to smoke more often then not but Wraith can fit a straw into his. So he basically gets a bottle of vodka, puts a straw into it, and goes to town. Judging on how long I've left him alone I'd say he's almost too drunk to stand at this point."

As he drove he struck up small conversations with Juliet, mostly about random subjects, eventually the two made it to a small bar that was relatively close to the Dublin Airport so Reaper assumed that Wraith was in there. He stepped out of the car, "Stay in the car," he said to Juliet, "it'll just be a moment." As he got closer to the bar he heard the sound of very loud and gruff laughter, Wraith was definitely in there. He slowly pushed the doors open, looking inside. It was basically like every other bar Reaper had been inside, dark, and a little dank, but a decent enough place to get a drink. But in the center of it all was a big man with a mask surrounded by a lot of people, including several drunks passed out on the floor. As soon as the door opened the crowd looked at Reaper, who just stood there motionless for a second, he then raised his hand and waved at Wraith to follow. Reaper considered himself lucky that Wraith actually listened to him the first time around and followed without too much fuss. Of course there was much stumbling and slurring of words as Wraith followed.

As soon as Reaper got into the car and buckled up Wraith went to the back door and tried to get it to open by pushing it. Reaper sighed and began rubbing his temples as he heard Wraith say, "Oh, right, it's supposed to be pulled. They should really have a sign for that."

As Wraith sat down in his chair, finally getting the car door to work properly, Reaper got introductions out of the way, "Wraith, this is Juliet Butler, Miss Butler, this is Wraith my…colleague."

Reaper watched as Juliet extended a hand in an attempt to shake Wraith's, saying "A pleasure to meet you."  
All Wraith managed to do was chuckle a little and say in a very drunk accent, "Hey, it's the pretty picture lady. How'd you manage to get out of the picture?"

Reaper turned his head, looking at Juliet, "I'm sorry Miss Butler he's always like this when he's drunk."

The woman shook her head, "It's quite alright," she said, "and please call me Juliet."

Reaper shrugged his shoulders, "Alright then Juliet, it shouldn't be long until we get you to Fowl Manor. Just try to ignore this babbling idiot on the way there because there's really no way to get him to shut up." Reaper turned his attention onto the road and began driving, Wraith was mumbling something about turnips and watching the roof like there was something actually interesting going on up there.

After a while of driving the group was halfway between Dublin and Fowl Manor between some grassy hills. Reaper's ears perked up as he heard a hissing sound coming from the rear of the car; quickly he stopped and got out of the car. "What is it?" he heard Juliet ask as he began examining the back wheels.

"Nothing but a flat," he said, looking over the back left one. It was a substantial leak in it but not enough to cause the tire to completely explode or tear apart. He opened the trunk and looked in the back, there was a spare tire along with a jack and tire iron. He sighed; at least Foaly had the decency to leave them with this much to repair the car. He heard Wraith get out of the car and stumble towards where he was standing. Reaper hoped he would have been asleep by now but that wasn't the case.

"Y'mean that there's no air in the tire?" Wraith asked, hovering over Reaper's shoulder as Reaper began turning the jack and making the car rise above the ground slightly.

"Yeah," Reaper replied, undoing the tire from its position. As he began fitting the tire onto the empty socket he heard Wraith continue mumbling, this time he assumed it was about flavored paste. He didn't pay attention to his partner's ramblings, right now he needed to get the tire back onto the car. Once he was finished screwing the spare onto the car he stood up and cracked his back, turning to face the way the car was. After a few seconds he heard another car pull up from behind theirs and begin honking its horn. He turned to say something to the driver when he noticed the driver had a very familiar face. Reaper's eyes widened as he realized who he was staring at, in the driver's seat of the other car was Mikhael Vassiken, who looked just as surprised as Reaper felt.

After a moment of stunned silence Reaper saw Mikhael's tires begin to spin rapidly as the car began accelerating. Mikhael sped past the two mercenaries and Reaper immediately set to work in taking the jack out from underneath the car. "Wraith, take the wheel!" Reaper shouted as the car jack slipped out from underneath the buggy.

Wraith obeyed the command quickly, almost happily, as Reaper jumped into the back, picking up one of his pistols. "Are you sure that's a good idea?" Juliet asked, worried. "He's drunk to an incredible point, I don't think he's fit for driving."

Reaper shook his head as he loaded a clip into his pistol, "Trust me Juliet, he's fit for driving. In fact, when he's drunk he becomes one of the best drivers I have ever seen."

As Reaper was saying this Wraith was fiddling with the keys, trying to get them into the slot, he heard Juliet mumble, "What have I gotten myself into?"

Reaper braced himself as Wraith stepped on the gas. To Reaper's surprise the car didn't move all that fast. In fact it didn't go much faster then the speed it went on the highway. As Mikhael's car went further into the distance Reaper sighed, pressing a button on the side of his helmet. "Foaly," he said into the mike.

A moment passed and Foaly's voice crackled onto the radio, "Yes Reaper?"

"We've run into Mikhael again, we're currently in pursuit."

"So what's the problem?" Foaly asked, "Go after him."

"That's the thing…" Reaper said, "We can't catch up to him in this piece of crap car you got us!"

"Did you remember the mongocharger?"

Reaper paused, remembering the object in his pocket. He pulled it out and looked at it, "…I have it but how do I use it?"

Foaly sighed over the radio, "Put it on the dashboard and plug the spike into the cigarette lighter, but please be **very** careful. I cannot emphasize that enough."

Reaper turned off the link to Foaly, sticking the mongocharger onto the dashboard and pulling the silver spike out of its compartment, when he slowly held the device in front of the cigarette lighter he had second thoughts. But those thoughts were interrupted when they hit a bump and Juliet accidentally fell to the side and hit Reaper. Once that happened the mongocharger's spike went straight into the cigarette lighter. For a split second there was only rattling, Reaper had thought for just a moment that it wouldn't work. That thought was immediately thrown out the window as Reaper's body was pressed against the back seat with the speed of the acceleration. Obviously Wraith felt this too because he took his foot off the gas just enough for the mercenary to move around freely enough.

"Damn," Reaper said, cracking his neck, "That thing really works." He heard Wraith kept mumbling about random subjects.

"What do you plan to do exactly?" Juliet asked, sitting forward.

Reaper stuck his body out of the sunroof, aiming his gun down the barrel, "It involves pulling the trigger and blowing up his tires." Reaper said as he gained his balance, Wraith catching up to Mikhael every second. As they got closer Mikhael must have noticed them because he began swerving wildly, Wraith did the same to try and keep a straight line between the two cars as Reaper kept pointing down the gun barrel. Then Mikhael did something Reaper didn't expect he'd try; he actually put himself into oncoming traffic. Wraith did the same, following Mikhael blindly. Reaper was about to take the shot when he heard a truck's horn honking, which was followed by Mikhael veering off into the correct lane while a large truck was heading straight for them. Reaper closed his eye, expecting impact, and then Wraith pulled a stunt that Reaper thought was impossible. His partner managed to get the car on both of its left side wheels and just barely missed the truck. Reaper managed to keep himself from falling out of the car but Wraith was now stuck with one side of the car on the ground. A few moments passed and the car fell to the ground again as they continued to follow the fleeing Russian.

Reaper managed to line up a shot; pulling the trigger twice he fired two bullets in rapid succession at Mikhael's back tires. They barely missed their target, hitting the ground but missing any part of the car that would actually be helpful. As the chase continued past a group of small and very steep hills Reaper noticed one of Mikhael's windows opening. Reaper quickly lined up another shot, trying to blow one of his enemy's tires before he had time to retaliate. He was too late, however, and a small circular object came bouncing out of the car in front. Reaper's eyes widened as he immediately realized what the object was, a frag grenade was coming right at them.

Wraith must have realized what it was as well because he turned sharply to the right, just before the grenade went off. As the grenade exploded Wraith couldn't stop himself from going right, so Reaper watched as his partner turned the wheel to aim for the hills that were right next to the car. Due to their car's speed, thanks to the mongocharger, the small buggy went up the hill with little resistance. As they went over the top of the hill they saw Mikhael still driving at top speed across the highway. It was then that Wraith really stepped on the gas, making the car speed across the grassy hill. The car landed right in front of Mikhael's and Reaper quickly lined up another shot, he noticed the Russian pulling out a pistol from the dashboard of his car and aimed it at the mercenary. Reaper was too fast, however, and pulled the trigger before Mikhael had time to even pull back the hammer on his gun. There was a loud popping sound as the bullet made contact with the tire, making it spin out of control and crash in a ditch in the road.

Wraith turned the car sharply, making it slide sideways down the road for a moment while the breaks screamed with a sound that was almost like anguish. Reaper's body was tossed around like a ragdoll in the sunroof, but he managed to stay in relatively good condition by some miracle. The two mercenaries cheered as the car skidded to a halt and their enemy's car laid smoking in the ditch. Reaper hopped out of the car via the sunroof, walking over to the Russian's car to see the damage.


	14. Let Me Get the Door for You

The factory complex was alive with actions all in an instant, the goblins and demons on the lower level were scurrying around trying to find the intruder while the alarm was blaring and various patrols on the top floor were screaming as well. Holly Short looked around, trying to find some way of escape when she felt herself being lifted up and carried across the platform. She looked up to see Reaper's mask almost gleaming in the moonlight. He slid with her into the other office where Wraith should have been. Holly felt herself being put down as Reaper looked around the room, she heard him swear under his breath when he didn't see anyone. It was then that Holly noticed a letter on the table, Reaper must have seen it as well because he was heading straight for it. He picked it up and began reading over it, tossing it aside and saying, "If I find him I'll make him hurt for this."

Holly raised an eyebrow at this recent agitation of her contact, "What?" She asked, "Did he scurry off without you?"

She noticed that Reaper's head picked up before he could make a comeback, "Footsteps," he said, drawing his pistols, "and they're headed this way."

Holly stepped back for a moment, "You're not planning on killing them are you?"  
"Of course not," Reaper chuckled, "Foaly has us on a strictly non-lethal standard. We're forced to use rubber bullets. Now then, we need to find my colleague and get out of here fast, I'm not sure whether or not the goblins will bother to show us mercy. The letter said he went deeper into the factory, so it's gonna be difficult." As he said this Holly saw a goblin light a fireball and get ready to throw it, Reaper quickly turned, firing a shot and hitting it directly in the forehead and knocking it out cold, "We should move now, before the demons start showing up."

Holly nodded, turning on her wings and flying with Reaper as he ran out of the office. "How will we find your friend?" She inquired, "It's pretty hard to tell where he is with that vague letter."

Reaper shot another round at a goblin in front of them, that one too fell down unconcious. "Just listen for the sound of automatic weaponry, that should lead us to him." Shortly after he said this they both heard gunshots coming from the direction they were headed in, "See," he said, a bit of cockiness to his voice.

Holly heard a goblin start lighting up a fireball and she turned to fire a shot from her Neutrino 3000 at it. The goblin was hit squarely in the chest and flew back about a foot, landing on the ground with a hard thud. She felt herself being stopped and was about to ask why until she was interrupted by a fireball landing right in front of them, three of the goblins from the ground level had seen them and started hurling fireballs at them. Reaper shot one of them from the ground level as he started running again, Holly following close behind. Two more fireballs landed just behind them as Holly shot the other two, knocking them out. As the the two reached the end of the platform they heard gunshots coming from a hallway to their left, as they rounded it a demon was standing at the ready, Holly watched as it swung a pipe at Reaper. She assumed the mudman was done for and got ready to blast him when Reaper ducked the swing, flipping his pistols around in his hands. The demon swung again but Reaper sidestepped, smacking the demon in the head with the butt of one of his pistols. Holly watched as the demon stepped back, staggered, and saw Reaper hit it across the jaw with the other pistol, ad doing it a third time as the demon rolled back on its heels. The demon fell to the ground with a crash and lay still, its chest moving up and down, it was still alive, good. Reaper turned, waving her on, "C'mon, I assume his buddies will be after us in a few seconds if we don't hurry."

Holly nodded, turning around to dispatch a goblin who was getting too close. The sounds of the gunshots from down the hall grew louder as they continued. Holly took out a goblin that was getting ready to attack while reaper tossed another one over his shoulder before it could throw it's fireball. They reached a door that was shut, it looked like it lead to the stairwell. Reaper kicked it open, hitting a goblin on the other side and sending it flying foward. "Moon!" Holly heard reaper shout.

Soon after she heard, "Night!" Come from the other side of the door, Reaper jumped in, shooting a goblin at the bottom of the stairs. Holly looked up, seeing a very large man with what looked like an M-16. He was wearing a white hoody and mask. His gun was going off as he was shooting up the stairs, a couple of goblins were unconcious around the area as well as a demon. She saw the second human look down on both of them, "Took your dear sweet time didn't you?" He said, his voice was rough and gritty.

"Well how were we supposed to know you were here?" Reaper responded, quickly heading up the stairs while Holly followed him.

"I thought I signaled you a few minutes before I decided to move."

"Unfortunately I was interrupted by this one here," Reaper said as Holly noticed him nodding his head towards her.

"Is she the one who set off the alarm?" Wraith asked, looking directly at Holly now.

"I'd like to see you do better given the situation," Holly said with a huff, she noted his mask was similar to Reaper's, but it was just two slits for the eyes instead of a skull. This mudman was particularly large as well, not quite as big as Butler was but he was nothing to laugh at.

"I did do better," Wraith stated, "And without a shield to hide me from view as well."

Holly's eye twitched a bit, getting ready to say some very nasty things when she and the rest of the group heard the downstairs doors opening.

"Alright, the time to acquaint ourselves is over, let's get to the roof now, before we're toasted like marshmellows over an open fire, please?"

Wraith nodded, turning around while walking up the stairs, gun pointed at the ready the entire time. Holly and Reaper wne straight up for the roof, Holly heard Wraith's gun fire a few rounds as Reaper opened the door leading to the outside. The sun was just rising over the cliffs and started shedding some light around the barren area. She heard the door shut as Wraith came out as well, picking up a particularly heavy looking rock and putting it in front of the door, keeping it shut. Holly looked around the roof, rocks like that were everywhere, this area had gone by with poor maintenance for a long while. She saw both Reaper and Wraith point their guns at a second door on the other side of the roof as goblins and some demons began coming out of it. Both of them opened fire, their aim very precise, knocking out the goblins as they came by. Reaper shot one of the demons but Holly saw that it only aggravated it even more. "Watch our backs!" Reaper shouted as she heard the door behind them being pounded on.

Holly nodded, turning her gun to face the door as she saw Reaper run out of ammo and pull the two shortsticks from his back, hitting the demon that was approaching several times, then seeing it fall to the ground. A few moments later Holly saw a demon's hand break open the door that had been blocked, she set her Neutrino to the highest setting as the demon's head appeared from across the door's frame. She shot it in the head, squarely between the eyes, and it fell down, out like a light. She shouted at the two mercenaries, "Do you have a plan of some sort or are we going to have to fight our way through all of them! I personally don't care for the later."

"Working on it!" Wraith shouted back, she turned her head for a moment, seeing Wraith pull out a gun with a grappling hook on the end of it as he ran out of ammo, Reaper was busy beating the heads of a demon and goblin like drums, the he pulled out a similar looking gun, both of them shot at one of the ledges near the roof, Reaper fighting off the demon who was still concious.

"I suggest you start flying now elf," Reaper said, looking at holly. As he said this a fireball came at him directly but before it made contact with him he was in the air, being pulled by the grappling hook he had fired. Holly activated her wings, there was no need to tell her twice. She flew up to where the two mercenaries were headed, landing there and not a moment had passed until both of the humans were there as well.

"Good shooting fairy," Reaper nodded at her and she smiled. "Of course it was kind of your fault that we got stuck in that mess." Holly felt her smile dissapear after that comment, suddenly there was a buzzing in her ear.

"Foaly?" She heard Wraith inquire, Holly gave a sigh of relief when she heard the centaur's voice on her helmet as well. "Yes, Wraith, it's me. What happened in there? I take my eyes off you for two seconds and you dissapear! Is Holly with you?"

"If you mean the elf that came to help us then yes. I'm fine too if you were wondering that, though it's doubtful." Reaper responded sarcastically.

"I was wondering if you were alright Reaper," Foaly chimed in, "If you ended up dead then I wouldn't have to pay you anymore."

Holly interrupted their banter before it went any further, "Foaly, just what is going on here? I thought the only humans that knew of our existence were Artemis and his colleagues. Why are these two here?"

"I'll get to that later Holly, right now you need to get back here. I want to know what's going on."

"I'm sending you the footage me and Wraith have gotten now Foaly, you can go over it while we make the trip back." Reaper stated, walking foward and Wraith following close behind.

"Fine," Foaly sighed, "Bring Holly with you, I think she's a bit upset over this information."

"Alright, I'll do my best and get ready to pay us once we get there." Reaper cut the line, continuing foward, "Come on Holly, you're riding with us."

"And why would I do that?" Holly asked, not wanting to spend any more time with these two humans.

"Because we're the only ones here who know where the place we're meeting Foaly is." Wraith stated, turning to look at holly. "Our car is a short walk from here."

"Fine," Holly sighed, the sooner this was over with the better. She followed the two for a while until they got to a large piling of rocks. The two mercenaries went behind the rocks and shortly after Holly heard an engine starting, a fairly powerful one at that. She flew over the grouping and saw a black car sitting there, it's engine rumbling away. She saw Wraith open the back door for her and she decided that she might as well go in. Once the door was closed behind her she asked, "What kind of car is this exactly?"

Reaper chuckled, he was sitting in the driver's seat, "A 1968 Chevrolet Camaro, welcome to an American classic miss." She barely had time to respond before Reaper slammed his foot on the gas and take off with amazing speed.

She sat back in her chair, Wraith turned around, "You may want to buckle up." He said, chuckling, "This one here isn't exactly the safest driver."

Reaper laughed almost maniacally as she did just as Wraith said, "Just a little longer." She said to herself, "Then you'll be free of these two lunatics." She kept saying that to herself but for some reason her gut said otherwise as they reached a road and started driving down it.


	15. Interrogations

Reaper knocked on the door to Fowl Manor, not knowing what to expect. One thing was for certain. It wasn't going to be pretty for the mercenaries. The door opened up and Reaper saw the giant manservant. There was a moment of silence, followed by a large fist heading straight for his face.

Reaper opened his eyes. This was the place he had seen in his dream before. The same trees and river flowed behind him. This time he was the one holding the woman instead of merely watching. _I've been here before._ Reaper thought. _But when was I here? And why?_

"Let me ask you something." The woman said, in obvious pain.

"What?" The mercenary asked, unable to stop himself.

"Was it worth the scars?" She asked, brushing her hand across his face.

Reaper merely expected her to touch his mask, but he quickly realized that his mask was gone. "Please," he started, "try to not talk. You're too badly injured to speak."

The woman barely shook her head. "I know I'm dead. What was I to you?"

"You're my subordinate…" Reaper said drifting off. He thought he felt tears coming to his eyes. "And I'm not going to let you die on me."

"Can I ask you one more question? I promise, it won't hurt." Reaper was about to respond, but he felt the same feeling he had before as he was dragged away.

Reaper opened his eyes, feeling his face. He found his mask there and he breathed a sigh of relief. It was then that he realized that he was shirtless with several bandages wrapped around his ribcage. He tried sitting forward but pain shot through his body. "Ah, you're awake." He heard a voice say.

Reaper's attention shifted to the young man standing at the doorway. "Where am I?" He asked Artemis.

"You're in one of the guest rooms of the house." Artemis said, casually walking forward. "We had to keep you here because my manservant nearly killed you and your associate."

Reaper's eyes darted around the room. He was in a well-furnished room as well as a very comfortable and decorative bed. "So where would Wraith be then?"

"He's currently in the lounge, giving a very poor recount of what happened to a few L.E.P. operatives."

"The L.E.P. guys are here?" Reaper asked. "How long have I been out?"

"Around three hours." The boy replied, taking a seat. "Butler didn't hold much back for you. You're lucky to have come out alive."

Reaper cringed a bit as he touched his fractured ribs, "I'll be sure to thank Butler for not killing me then." He said sarcastically. "If the L.E.P. guys are here then how come none of them are here to greet me?"

"Well, one of them did come by." Artemis said, a slight smile appearing on his face.

Reaper shuddered at that smile, it reminded him of a vampire. "So where is the little bugger?"

Artemis pointed down at the floor, "See for yourself. Unless your eyes have stopped working for you."

Reaper leaned his head over the edge of the bed to see a fairy passed out on the ground. "What happened to him?"

"It seems that our unfortunate officer here tried to remove your mask." Artemis said, shaking the fairy. "He quickly found himself being shocked with enough electricity to knock out your friend in the lounge."

Reaper shifted himself out of the bed, seeing his shirt, jacket, and trench coat neatly folded on a nearby chair. "I thought I warned Foaly about what happens when people try to take off the mask."

"Curiosity can trump all warnings, Reaper. I'm more surprised that there aren't any more unconscious L.E.P. officers." Artemis said as Reaper slipped his clothes on.

"So where exactly are the rest of your family? I highly doubt they'd approve of my presence here." Reaper asked as he straightened his heavy trench coat.

"They're currently spending the month in Egypt. I don't care for the place too much, so I decided my time would be better spent here."

Reaper opened the door to his room, grunting as he felt a sharp pain in his ribs. "Did Foaly happen to come to the surface?"

Artemis shook his head, "No, unfortunately. However, you do get the pleasure of dealing with Trouble Kelp."

Reaper sighed as he walked down the stairs and into the lounge. He saw three fairies standing in front of Wraith, who was trying desperately to describe the situation with Mikhael. "Excuse me, officers. I believe I can provide more detail on this situation."

He saw Trouble turn around and glare at him. "Would you please explain to me exactly what happened? Before I decide to shoot both of you."

Reaper spent the next few minutes explaining the whole situation involving Mikhael to trouble. To his surprise the commander actually listened without shouting. "And after being rudely assaulted by a ten foot monster I wound up here." He finished with a sigh.

"So you just happened to run into Mikhael Vassiken while escorting Juliet to the manor?" Kelp asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I know it sounds unlikely, but that's exactly how it happened." Reaper replied, rubbing his temples.

"I'm certain Master Artemis had nothing to do with that?" He said, looking at the boy genius.

Artemis smiled his wicked smile, "Why, Commander Kelp, how would I have known that Mikhael would be in Dublin?"

"I don't want to know about your involvement in this, mud boy. Just know that if I find out that you were involved in this in any way that could harm the people then I'll make sure you wind up with a blank memory." Kelp said, almost growling.

"Right, so before you tear each other's throats out might I ask where you put Mikhael?" Reaper asked, interrupting them.

Kelp sighed, looking at the mercenary. "He's currently in the basement of Fowl Manor. Specifically, he's inside a cell designed to hold Holly Short." He said the last part while glaring at Artemis.

Reaper put his hands up defensively. "Alright, alright, just calm down Commander Kelp. Why hasn't he been moved to L.E.P. headquarters already?"

"Here's the thing." Kelp said, a little embarrassed. "We can't get him to move. We've tried putting him under with sedatives and even the mesmer. But none of that has worked so far. And he has vital information that we desperately need."

"Might I suggest using more draconian tactics?" Artemis said, almost grinning.

"And what might you have in mind?" Kelp asked, raising his eyebrow suspiciously.

Reaper sighed. He knew what was about to come next. "He's suggesting sending either Wraith or me in there to find out just what Mikhael knows." He said with a great deal of hesitation.

Kelp shook his head. "Absolutely not. I'm not about to let mudmen meddle in the people's affairs if I can help it."

Artemis smiled. "Ah, but Commander Kelp. This concerns us humans as much as it does the people. I don't know if you noticed it or not, but Mikhael seemed to have been making a delivery. A delivery to humans I might add. I'm certain you saw Mikhael's state, or you at least have heard about the severe beating he gave these two mercenaries. He wouldn't be able to do that normally. So just picture what would happen if a drug like the one he was given was to be given out to the public."

Kelp walked up to the young man, staring straight into his eyes. "Listen mudboy, there are procedures we need to follow. I'm responsible for upholding those procedures. And I'm not about to break any of them because you decided you wanted to make this into a game."

Reaper cleared his throat, interrupting the two again. "If I may be so bold as to state, Commander Kelp. But I don't think your men are going to be able to get him out of here and get the information you need. I'd suggest letting me go in there and interrogate him. Of course I won't be hurting the man. But I have been known to be able to get the information I need from people when I want to."

Kelp sighed again, rubbing his temples. "Fine, fine, but I'll be watching you from the security cameras Artemis installed when he first built that cell."

Wraith cocked his head to the side. "Will I be coming with you, Reaper? Or will you be doing this alone?"

"I'm going alone, Wraith." Reaper replied. "I'd prefer to make this as quick and painless as possible."

Wraith shrugged his shoulders. "Whatever just make sure you don't destroy his self esteem."

Reaper shook his head. "Nah, I'll get him to talk. But I won't hurt him in any physical manner whatsoever." Reaper turned his attention to Artemis. "Now then, where was this room that I've been told about?"

Wraith stretched his back. He was in a small room filled with screens. Each was a different room or angle of the house. "Are you certain he can do this?" he heard Kelp ask.

"Undoubtedly." Wraith replied.

Everyone's eyes darted towards a single screen, one that held a fairly large Russian man who was sitting alone in a very plain and white room. They heard the door open to the room and they saw Reaper walk inside. "And so it begins." Artemis commented, curious to see what would happen.

Mikhael looked at reaper and smiled. "What do you want, American pig?"

They heard Reaper sigh. "Really? You actually called me an American pig?" He turned to face the screen and waved his hand, saying, "Alright, Wraith, cut the feed from the camera."

Wraith looked at Kelp and Artemis who were in the room with him. He shrugged his shoulders and looked expectantly at Artemis, who sighed. "Very well." The young man said. "Just make sure he doesn't stain the walls."

Kelp was about to object, but Artemis cut the power before he could. Wraith pressed a button on the side of his helmet. "Alright, Reaper, the power's out. Do your thing."

"Excellent." He heard Reaper say over the link.

A few minutes passed and nerves were wearing thin. Kelp and Artemis had been going at it every few seconds whenever some form of conversation was to come up. Wraith decided it was best to just shut up and wait for Reaper's confirmation that it was over. After a few more minutes passed he heard Reaper's voice crackle to life on his com-link. "Alright, Wraith. You can turn on the power now."

Wraith tapped Artemis on the shoulder. "He's finished."

Artemis nodded. "Excellent, let's see how our companions are doing. Shall we?" He asked, looking at Kelp.

"Whatever, mudboy, just turn the power on." Kelp grunted.

Artemis quickly turned the power to the screens back on. They saw Mikhael quivering in a corner while Reaper looked up at the screen. "Kelp!" He started. "You'll find Mikhael rather willing to answer your questions now. If you don't mind, I'd like to get out of here before the stench kills me."

If Wraith could have taken a picture of the look on Commander Kelp's face then he would have been satisfied for the rest of his life. He had never seen the commander so surprised and angry at the same time. It would have been hilarious to Reaper. He sighed. Their job was over, for now. But they wouldn't have much time before they were sent on another mission, right after the interrogation of Mikhael. He left the room, getting ready for their next job.


End file.
